THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE 

SEXUAL  INSTINCT 

ITS 

USE   AND    DANGERS 

AS  AFFECTING 

HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 


Essentials  to   the  Welfare  of  the  Individual 
AND  THE  Future  of  the  Race     


BY 
JAMES    FOSTER    SCOTT 

B.A.  (Yale  University),  M.D.,  CM.  (Edinburgh  University) 

LATE  OBSTETRICIAN   TO  COLUMBIA   HOSPITAI,   FOR   WOMEN,    AND    LYING-IN  ASYLUM, 
WASHINGTON,   D.   C;     LATE  VICE-PRESIDENT   OF   THE    MEDICAL   ASSO- 
CIATION  OF   THE   DISTRICT   OF  COLUMBIA,   ETC.,  ETC. 


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NEW    YORK 

E.    B.    TREAT    &    C0M:F»ANY 

241-243  West  Twenty-third  Street 
1902 


Copyright,  1898 

By  E.  B.  TREAT  &  COMPANY 

New  York 


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"  If  it  is  possible  to  perfect  mankind,  the  means 
of  doing  so  toill  he  found  in  the  medical  sciences." 

Descartes. 


PREFACE. 

This  book  contains  much  plain  talking,  for  which 
I  offer  no  defence.  Its  justification  will  be  found  in 
the  body  of  the  work. 

To  see  men  give  rein  to  their  animal  passions,  sub- 
jecting themselves  and  others  to  so  many  risks  of 
"^  which  they  are  ignorant,  is  intensely  saddening. 
^7  Jeremy  Taylor  says:  "It  is  impossible  to  make  peo- 
ple understand  their  ignorance,  for  it  requires  knowl- 
edge to  perceive  it ;  and,  therefore,  he  that  can  perceive 
it  hath  it  not. "  Eeaders  will  pardon  me  for  saying  that 
my  object  is  to  make  them  understand  their  ignorance 
— to  enable  them  to  perceive  it  so  that  they  may  have 
it  not. 

The  design  of  this  work  is  to  furnish  the  non-pro- 
fessional man  with  a  sufficiently  thorough  knowledge 
of  matters  pertaining  to  the  sexual  sphere — knowledge 
^  which  he  cannot  afford  to  be  without. 
V  Ever  mindful  of  the  saying  of  Huxley,  that  "  knowl- 
>j^^  edge  does  not  go  beyond  phenomena,"  I  have  endeav- 
■?L  ored  to  convey  this  knowledge  in  language  free  as 
far  as  possible  from  technical  terms  and  intelligible  to 
laymen.     My  endeavor  has  been  to  avoid  generaliza- 


35378(> 


6  PREFACE. 

tion,  vagueness  and  indefiniteness — to  truthfully  pre- 
sent physical  and  ethical  facts — not  evading  unpleasant 
topics,  nor  yet  transgressing  the  limits  of  propriety. 

Science  strips  all  draperies  from  the  objects  it  ex- 
amines, and,  in  the  search  after  truth,  sees  no  indeco- 
rum in  any  earnest  line  of  study,  and  recognizes  no 
impropriety  in  looking  at  objects  under  an  intense 
light  and  in  good  focus. 

I  have  conscientiously  avoided  making  any  state- 
ment of  fact  which  I  believe  to  be  debatable,  and  have 
formulated  nothing  which  I  fear  to  present  to  the  tests 
of  time  or  criticism. 

The  future  prospects  of  humanity,  of  course,  rest  in 
the  sexual  domain  of  those  who  are  now  living,  and 
none  will  dispute  that  the  degradation  of  mankind  is 
due  more  to  sexual  irregularity  than  to  any  other  cause. 

It  is  commonly  said  that  it  is  a  hopeless  task  to  turn 
the  stream  of  the  sexual  activities  into  orderly  chan- 
nels. So  also  is  it  a  hoj)eless  task  to  do  away  with 
murder,  theft,  drunkenness,  lying,  and  other  preva- 
lent misdeeds.  Evils,  however,  can  be  mitigated,  if 
not  cured,  if  we  subject  them  to  a  philosophical  analy- 
sis, which  may  suggest  remedies. 

Civilization  has  very  slowly  come  to  the  race ;  and 
the  tribes,  originally  barbarous,  have  required  long 
periods  of  development  for  their  higher  enlighten- 
ment. The  operation  of  Natural  Law  is  leisurely,  but 
unerring  in  its  regular  correlation  of  causes  with 
definite  effects ;  thus  if  the  individual  maintain  him- 
self as  a  desirable  ancestor,  the  blessings  of  his  self- 
restraint  will,  by  the  operation  of  the  law  of  the  "sur- 
vival of  the  fittest,"  accrue  to  his  posterity,  who  tend 
to  increase  in  the  ratio  of  a  geometrical  progression. 


PREFACE.  7 

On  the  other  hand,  the  progeny  of  the  careless  and  the 
faulty  will  surely  be  affected,  physically  or  psychically, 
or  both. 

In  fairness  to  myself  it  must  be  stated  that  my 
knowledge  of  these  subjects  has  been  acquired  through 
legitimate  channels.  Upon  my  very  entrance  into 
university  life  my  attention  was  first  directed  to  the 
subject  by  an  address  from  the  late  President  Porter 
of  Yale  University ;  then  came  the  experience  as  a 
medical  student  at  Edinburgh,  Vienna  and  London ; 
then  a  residence  of  two  and  a  half  years  in  a  hospital 
devoted  exclusively  to  obstetrics  and  the  diseases  of 
women,  followed  by  several  years  more  of  hospital  and 
private  practice. 

Thus  I  have  learned  to  appreciate  and  respect  the 
role  of  women  in  nature,  and  to  abhor  the  ignorance 
which  will  permit  men  to  throw  aside  the  elements  of 
their  manhood — veracity,  cleanliness,  health,  and  fit- 
ness for  ancestorship.  Such  men  I  have  seen  by  hun- 
dreds in  the  venereal  wards  of  hospitals  and  at  large. 

I  have  made  it  a  point  to  discuss  the  subject-matter 
of  this  work  with  several  widely  different  kinds  of  ad- 
visers— men  of  science,  doctors,  ministers,  lawyers, 
and  with  quite  a  large  number  of  "men  about  town." 
Some  of  it  has  also  been  prudently  discussed  with 
women. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  these  various  classes  of  coun- 
sellors, who  surely  afford  the  fairest  test,  agree  with 
what  has  been  said ;  and  perhaps  the  most  emphatic 
assent  of  all  comes  from  men  of  loose  morals — many  of 
whom,  I  have  cause  to  believe,  have,  through  free  dis- 
cussion upon  the  various  points  in  this  work,  been  led 
to  abandon  illicit  indulgence. 


8  PREFACE, 

Painful  as  it  is  to  treat  subjects  so  repulsive,  a  man 
cannot  choose  his  duty,  nor  can  he  honestly  evade  it. 
Therefore,  knowing  of  no  other  book  of  like  character, 
I  present  this  as  the  best  effort  of  which  I  am  at  pres- 
ent capable  for  the  preservation  of  the  individual  and 
the  welfare  of  the  race. 

James  Foster  Scott. 


Note. — Owing  to  Dr.  Scott's  absence  from  the 
country  while  his  work  was  going  through  the  press, 
he  committed  the  final  revision  and  proof-reading  to 
a  medical  friend.  A  very  considerable  abridgment  has 
been  found  necessary  to  bring  the  book  within  the  re- 
quired limit  of  size  and  price.  If,  therefore,  a  want  of 
continuity  or  of  completeness  be  found  in  any  portion, 
the  responsibility  rests  upon  the  reviser  and  not  upon 
the  author.  The  few  notes  added  by  the  reviser  are 
signed  "Ed." 

Washington,  D.C. 
October,  1898. 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter  I. — Introductory — The  Sexuatj  Instinct  and  the   Im- 
portance OP  A  Just  Appreciation  of  its  Influence. 

PAGE 

Self-preservation  and  the  sexual  instinct  the  two  chief  impulses 
which  govern  human  action — Importance  of  rightly  compre- 
hending the  sexual  side  of  one's  nature — Sin  luxuriates  in 
ignorance  and  secrecy — Enemies  of  posterity — Fatherhood  and 
justice  to  offspring — Character  chiefly  developed  during  de- 
velopmental period — Laws  of  nature  and  morality  coincide — 
The  grave  responsibilities  incurred  in  the  lustful  life — Chil- 
dren of  the  vigorous  tend  to  survive,  while  the  progeny  of  the 
vicious  tend  to  become  eliminated — Nature  leisurely  in  pun- 
ishing— No  pardon  granted  for  sins  against  the  body — The 
aftermath  of  lust  which  physicians  see— No  animal  so  bad  as 
some  men — Perfect  continence  compatible  with  health — Self- 
control  and  altruism — Pure  glow  of  the  sexual  functions  is  the 
well-spring  of  all  the  majestic  qualities  of  man — Impairment 
of  sexual  vigor  a  terrible  calamity — Ethical  defect  associated 
with  vitiation  of  it — Danger  for  every  uuinstructed  man — 
Conscience,  duty  and  sympathy  racial  instincts — Heredity, 
the  past  at  work  in  the  present — Progeny  of  the  impure,  sons 
and  daughters  alike,  tend  to  have  a  surcharge  of  erotic  inclina- 
tion— Man,  like  the  animals,  should  at  the  least  show  an  equal- 
ity toward  his  female,       . 17 

CHAPTER  II. — Physiology  of  the  Sexual  Life. 

The  stages  of  human  life — Contrasts  between  the  sexes — Woman's 
sexual  Tole  in  nature  more  important — Changes  in  the  male — 
Changes  in  the  female— Chivalry  should  always  be  shown  to 
women — Influence  of  the  reproductive  glands  on  mind  and 
body — Care  of  the  i^ubescent  child — Periodicity  the  law  in 
women — Causes  which  predispose  to  masturbation — Children 
to  be  taught  self-mastery — Puberty  the  formative  and  critical 
period  of  life — Prudent  enlightenment  of  children  essential — 
Sociability  of  the  sexes  a  safeguard — Man  zoologically  classi- 
fied with  the  animals— The  female  more  distinctly  sexual— 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

Nubility,  or  the  proper  age  for  marriage — Female  marriage- 
able before  the  male — The  climacteric,     .....     47 

Chaptkr  III. — A  Proper  Calculation  op  the  Consequences  of 
Impurity  from  the  Personal  Standpoint. 

Greatest  happiness  principle — Two  classes  of  men,  the  pure  and 
the  impure — Chastity  a  battle  royal — Sexual  inclinations  pow- 
erful when  maturity  is  reached — Directing  iutluence  of  the 
sexual  instinct — The  fountain-source  of  love — Pure  girls  often 
degraded  by  marriage — Fornicators  almost  sure  to  become  dis- 
eased— Sowing  of  "  wild  oats"  reserved  by  men  for  themselves 
— Brothel  inmates  and  the  kind  of  men  who  frequent  them — 
Prostitutes  not  soulless  creatures — Venereal  diseases  exceed- 
ingly grave — The  kind  of  men  seen  in  venereal  dispensaries — 
Bad  work  of  charlatans — Venereal  patients  are  poisonous  ani- 
mals— Fallen  men  the  enemies  of  society — Purity  of  life  the 
greatest  incentive  to  marriage — Intercourse  with  harlots  pol- 
lutes the  mind — Real  love — A  travesty  of  love — Varieties  of 
impotence — Percentage  of  unhappy  marriages — The  secret  of 
happy  marriages — Health  not  dependent  on  sexual  indulgence 
— Reproductive  glands  do  not  atrophy  from  disuse — All  repu- 
table scientists  advocate  purity  and  self-control — Sexual  dis- 
eases practically  never  seen  in  the  chaste — Prostitutes  treated 
as  wild  animals — Woman's  honor  rests  on  man's  sympathy — 
Importance  of  heredity — A  chaste  man  described — The  pro- 
geny of  the  impure — Reform  easier  for  men  than  for  women — 
Adultery — Only  the  chaste  feel  the  pure  glow  of  sexual  pas- 
sion  73 

Chapter  IV.  — Woman,  and  the  Unmanliness  op  Degrading  Her. 

Woman's  rule  in  nature — Womanly  attributes — Manly  attributes — 
Women's  gentler  qualities  unfit  them  for  meeting  men  on  an 
equal  footing — Why  men  venerate  their  mothers — Woman's 
and  man's  strength  contrasted— Woman's  sexual  feeling  strong, 
while  sensuality  is  weak  in  her — Man  the  glory  and  the  shame 
of  the  world — Normal  man  deeply  chivalrous  to  the  female  sex 
— Impurity  destroys  sense  of  chivalry — Manliness  dependent  on 
purity — The  essentials  of  manliness — The  impure  man  lays 
down  the  crown  of  manhood — Defenceless  girls  the  chief  suf- 
ferers—The nature  of  the  love  of  men  and  women — Sexual 
damage  destroys  capacity  to  be  a  lover — Sexuality  at  the  bot- 
tom of  all  true  conjugal  love — Platonic  love — Sexual  feelings 
exercise  a  directive  power  over  most  human  activities — Wo- 


CONTENTS.  11 

PAGE 

man  the  most  exalted  of  created  beings — Man's  love  not  so 
deep  and  lasting — Romantic  love — Woman  shows  the  marks  of 
sin  permanently — Woman's  true  sphere — Her  safety  lies  in 
higher  education — Franchise  for  women — Age  of  consent — 
Unjust  legislators — Brutish  men  the  excreta  of  society  and  con- 
sequently they  should  be  set  apart, 119 

Chapter  V. — Some  op  the  Influences  which  Incite  to  Sexual 

Immokality. 

Abuse  of  spirituous  liquors — Dancing  is  a  secondary  sexual  love- 
feast — "  Girl  of  the  period  "  overdressed— Ornamentation  de- 
signed to  sexually  attract  the  opposite  sex— Fetichism,  or  in- 
dividual preferences — Feminine  modesty  put  to  severe  strain 
in  ball-room— lV;e  modern  stage — Modern  tendency  erotic  and 
sensuous — Glorification  of  vice — Ladies  have  no  excuse  for 
patronizing  indecent  plays — The  stage  no  place  for  pure  wo- 
men—  The  nude  and  the  vulgar  in  rtr<— Legitimate  art  elevating 
— Nature  and  true  art  not  at  variance — Modern  art  tending  to 
vulgarity — Employment  of  female  models — Demoralizing  lit- 
■^  erature — Daily  press — "Women  welcomed  by  the  public  only 
when  they  amuse — Society  seeks  pleasure  before  all  else — De- 
cent members  of  the  community  should  have  higher  standards,    147 

Chapter  VI. — Prostitution  and   the  Influences   that  Lead  a 

Woman   into  Such  a  Life.  I 

Jl'ature  of  the  harlot's  work — Penalties  all  heaped  on  her — The 
fallen  man  more  to  blame — Woman's  extremity  too  often  man's 
opportunity — Numerous  influences  which  draw  women  astray  f 

— The  lustful  passion  in  women — Prostitutes  mostly  from 
lower  walks  of  life— Seduction — Harlotry  and  drunkenness  go 
hand  in  hand — Poverty — Starvation  wages— Stores,   factories  \^ 

and  "sweat-shops"— Familiarity  and  disrespect  from  men—  ' 

Absence  of  religious  training  and  belief — Fallen  women  de-  / 

barred  from  churches  while  their  paramours  are  welcomed — 
Abandonment  of  wives  and  false  marriages — "  .^assage  par- 
lors"—Clandestine  prostitutes— Cost  of  prostitution— Happi- 
ness for  the  fallen  woman  impossible— Suicide  frequent — 
Physical  results  deplorable  to  both  sexes— Men,  not  women, 
the  ones  to  be  appealed  to — Double  standard  of  morality — If 
prostitution  is  necessary,  the  work  cf  reformation  is  a  mistake 
—Civilization  somewhat  protected  by  the  sterility  of  profligate 
men  and  women— The  law  of  "survival  of  the  fittest"  protects 


12  CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

the  race — No  man  can  retainJiis  character  as  a  gentleman  who 
allows  himself  to  be  classed  with  such  people,  .        .         .   169 

Chapter  VII. — The  Regulation  op  Prostitution. 
Some  countries  enter  into  the  business— Object  of  regulation  is  to 
protect  society,  but  the  exact  opposite  maintains — Abandon- 
ment of  the  system  in  many  parts  of  Europe — Results  of  the 
wicked  regulation  system — Three  methods  of  dealing  with 
prostitution — Let-alone  system — Regulation  system — Repres- 
sive system — A  judicious  repressive  system  the  only  proper 
course — Laws  cannot  be  just  when  they  clash  with  nature,      .  203 

Chapter  VIII. — Criminal  Abortion. 

Illegitimacy  or  criminal  abortion  the  goal  of  lust — Consequences 
accrue  to  mother  and  babe — Foeticide  equivalent  to  murder — 
Semen — Its  sole  design  is  for  procreation— Xo  time  in  a  wo- 
man's sexual  life  when  she  may  not  be  impregnated — Physi- 
ology of  reproduction  and  development — Female  reproductive 
elements  svipplied  monthly  independently  of  the  woman's  will 
— Conception  and  the  development  of  the  foetus — Life  begins 
at  moment  of  impregnation — The  process  more  wonderful  than 
a  miracle,  because  it  is  constantly  happening  instead  of  only 
once — Definition  of  abortion — Historical — Enormous  prevalence 
of  the  crime  to-day — Evil  work  of  the  press  in  advertising 
charlatans  and  nostrums — Therapeutic,  or  justifiable  abortion 
— Ineffectual  punishment  of  criminal  abortion — The  abortion- 
ist described — Risks  and  dangers  of  tlie  act — Severe  hemor- 
rhage and  blood-poisoning  the  rule — The  surgeon's  method 
in  inevitable  abortions — The  abortionist's  methods — Women 
rarely  regain  complete  health  after  criminal  abortion — The 
glories  of  maternity — "Women  stand  at  the  summit  of  nature — 
The  infant  is  the  "tutor  for  the  affections"  of  its  parents — 
Sexual  intercourse  the  highest  expression  of  love — Highest 
function  of  a  true  man  is  to  protect  the  woman  with  whom  he 
has  mated  and  also  their  offspring — Man  but  the  crown  of  wo- 
man's glory — Criminal  abortion  the  most  unnatural  of  all 
crimes— No  possible  defence — The  act  shown  to  be  a  gross 
perversion  and  an  ignominious  downfall  from  true  manhood 
or  true  womanhood, 229 

Chapter  IX.  — Gonorrhcea. 
Gonorrhoea  a  serious  malady — A  prevalent  and  formidable  disease 
— Historical — Seemingly  trifling  at  first,  it  tends  to  do  irrep- 


CONTENTS.  13 

PAQK 

arable  damage — Definitions  of  venereal  diseases — Eighty  per 
cent  of  men  are  said  to  have  had  gonorrhoea  at  some  time  in 
their  lives — Gonorrhoea  does  not  taint  the  blood  in  the  same 
yv&j  that  syphilis  does— Duo  to  the  growth  of  the  "  gonococcus" 
— Gleet — Any  mucous  membrane  may  be  attacked — Signs, 
symptoms  and  mode  of  onset  of  go noivha'a— The  various  stages 
— All  venereal  diseases  are  elective  diseases — Period  of  incuba- 
tion—Convalescent stage  often  prolonged  for  years — Relapses- 
Internal  remedies  alone  inadequate  to  effect  a  cure — Treatment 
ofaeute gonorrhea— A  description  of  the  treatment  gives  a  clearer 
insight  into  the  nature  of  the  disease — Ptomains — Gonorrhoeal 
cases  difficult  to  treat  on  account  of  the  secrecy  required,  lying 
propensities  of  patients  and  their  bad  habits— The  abortive 
method— The  general  methods— Combined  use  of  irrigations 
and  internal  remedies—  Chronic  gonorrJum — Gleet  may  remain 
for  years — Tendency  for  gonorrhoea  to  remain  latent — One  at- 
tack affords  no  immunity — Spermatorrhoea- Difficulties  in  de- 
ciding when  a  cure  is  attained — Danger  in  marriage  with  such 
men — 2  he  complications  of  gonorrhcea — Varieties — Damage  may 
become  apparent  only  after  tlie  lapse  of  years  after  patient  had 
supposed  himself  cwxed— Stricture  of  urethra — Slow  in  devel- 
opment— Constant  tendency  to  grow  worse— Urine  tends  to 
become  foul— Bladder  inflammation— Urinary  fistulae— Abscess 
of  ■pTostate^Epididi/mitis  the  most  common  complication  of 
gonorrhoea— It  tends  to  produce  sterility — Inflammation  of 
seminal  vesicles — Various  other  complications  in  the  male,  e.g., 
inflammation  of  prostate  gland,  prostatorrhoea,  cowperitis,  bal- 
anitis, etc. — Treatment, 307 

Gonorrhoea  in  Women. 

Gonorrhoea  not  usually  early  recognized  in  the  female— Conclu- 
sions of  various  authorities— Gonorrhoea  in  women  more  se- 
vere and  fatal  than  syphilis— Mode  of  onset  and  gravity  of  re- 
sults—Jfcute  and  chronic  forms— Invasion  of  uterus,  Fallopian 
tubes,  ovaries  and  peritoneum— Sterility  from  gonorrhoea- 
"One-child  sterility"— Women  usually  infected  innocently  by 
reformed  husbands  who  were  never  cured,  or  by  profligate  hus- 
bands,   ^'^5 

Complications  of  Gonorrhcea  Common  to  Both  Sexes. 

Inflammation  of  kidneys  and  bladder— Buboes— Peritonitis— Gonor- 
rhoea!  rheumatism— Affections  of    heart  and  pyaemia- Con- 


14  CONTENTS. 

PAQB 

junctivitis  and  ophthalmia — Affections  of  skin — Gonorrh(m,  in 
the  infant — Blindness  often  results — Any  mucous  membrane 
may  be  infected, 389 

Chapter  X.  — Chancroid. 

Otherwise  called  "soft  chancre" — Cause— Mode  of  onset — Fre- 
quency—Complications— Treatment 395 

Chapter  XI. — Syphilis. 

History — Its  malignancy  among  aborigines — Its  nature — It  is  infec- 
tious, inoculable  and  transmissible  to  posterity — The  "  initial 
lesion,  "  or  "hard  chancre"— Caused,  probably,  by  the  bacillus 
of  Lustgarten — Acquired  and  hereditary  forms— Modes  of  ac- 
quiring it— Primary,  secondary  and  tertiary  stages— Syphilitic 
patients  should  be  quarantined  during  active  stages — Hered- 
itary syjyhills — No  initial  lesion — no  well-defined  stages — Trans- 
mission may  be  from  either  or  both  parents — Abortions  frequent 
in  syphilis — If  born,  the  child  is  usually  a  blasted  creature — 
Shocking  complications — Syphilis  and  marriage — In  strict 
justice  syphilitics  should  not  be  allowed  to  marry — Treatment 
in  syphilis 399 

Chapter  XII. — Onanism. 

Definition  —  Predisposing  causes — Varieties — Results — Injury  to 
body  and  mind — Evil  effects  chiefly  expended  on  the  nervous 
system — Self-control  becomes  weakened — The  imagination  and 
the  liner  endowments  of  the  individual  suffer  the  greatest  dam- 
age— Onanist  may  be  impotent  to  copulate  or  to  procreate — 
He  becomes  the  counterfeit  of  a  man  in  cases  where  excess  is 
great — Treatment 419 

Chapter  XIII.— The  Perversions. 

Definition — Sexually  over-stimulated  ancestors  and  evil  environ- 
ment largely  the  cause — Erotic  fetichism — A  purely  psycho- 
logical phenomenon — Importance  of  impressions  received  at 
puberty — Various  fetiches — Sadism — Desire  to  inflict  cruelty 
— Lust-murder — Mutilation  and  defilement  of  corpses — Injury 
to  women — Sadistic  acts  on  animals — Sadism  in  women — Maso- 
chism— Desire  for  abuse  and  humiliation — Masochism  in  women 
— Sexual  hundagc — Contrary  sexual  instinct — Pederasty — Incest 
— OtJier  gross  acts  2yunishable  by  law, 433 


( 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTKODUCTION.      THE  SEXUAL  INSTINCT  AND    THE    mPORTANCE 
OF  A  JIJ8T    APPRECIATION   OP  ITS  INFLUENCE. 

The  strongest  of  all  instincts,  pertaining  in  common  to 
,:all  living  beings,  mankind  included,  is  admittedly  that  of 
<\^^-^lf^Preservation.     The  second  strongest  instinct  is   the 
of''  Sexual,  or  the  instinct  of  propagation.     These  are  funda- 
mental and  permanent,  whether  consciously  recognized  or 
not. 

Upon  due  reflection,  and  interpreted  broadly,  it  will 
be  appreciated  that  the  sexual  instinct  has  been  deeply 
stamped  upon  the  individuality  of  every  normal  person. 
And  we  may  safely  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  two  chief,  if 
not  sole,  influences  which  govern  all  human  endeavor  and 
action  are  these  innate  propensities  of  self -conservation  and 
the  desire  for  the  reproduction  of  the  species. 

The  instinct  of  self-preservation  leads  us  to  do  those 
things  which  will  bv3  of  material  advantage  to  us  in  assur- 
ing health  and  prosperity  ;  and  in  fulfilment  of  this  law  we 
are  impelled  to  a  steady  application  to  business  or  other 
pursuits  by  which  we  may  accumulate  property,  and  are 
led  to  conform  to  moral  restraints  and  laws  for  our  welfare 
in  this  world,  and  for  a  deliverance  from  the  penalties  of 
sin,  of  which  we  stand  in  more  or  less  fear,  in  the  life  to 
come. 

In  the  process  of  the  building  up  of  our  civilization  we 
cannot  fail  to  observe  that  the  confidence  in  an  immortal 
life  beyond  the  grave  has  exerted  a  tremendous  influence 
2 


18  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

upon  our  conduct  in  this  life,  so  tliat  we  not  infrequently 
go  contrary  to  our  desires  out  of  an  extra-rational  motive 
of  altruism,  largely  tlirough  a  feeling  of  love  to  our  neigh- 
bors, and  partly  on  account  of  the  hope  of  ultimate  advan- 
tage to  ourselves. 

In  this  respect,  the  instinct  of  seK-preservation  in  man- 
kind admits  of  a  wider  interpretation  than  it  does  in  the 
lower  animals ;  for  with  us  our  hopes  extend  to  at  least 
some  feeling  of  reliance  in  a  future  state;  and  it  need 
hardly  be  pointed  out  that  in  the  physiology  of  mankind 
there  is  a  fixed  correlation  of  the  moral  and  physical 
natures.  With  us,  therefore,  the  principle  of  self-preserva- 
tion is  to  no  small  degree  modified  by  altruism,  by  which 
influence  we  have  the  power  of  progress ;  and  not  seldom 
the  rudiments  of  a  self-sacrificing  morality  are  also  to  be 
found  among  the  inferior  animals. 

The  sexual  instinct  irresistibly  attracts  to  each  other 
individuals  whose  generative  organs  difi'er  in  physical 
characteristics,  anatomically  and  physiologically,  and  it 
insures  the  development  of  families  and  the  perpetuation 
of  the  race.  It  makes  one  ]')roud  of  his  manhood  or  of  her 
womanhood,  and  is  in  fact  the  indispensable  quality  which 
marks  the  j)erfect  man  or  perfect  woman. 

"  Sexual  love  is  the  passion  which  unites  the  sexes.  The 
stimulating  impressions  produced  by  health,  youth,  and 
beauty,  and  ornaments  and  other  artificial  means  of  attrac- 
tion, are  all  elements  of  this  feeling.  .  .  .  Around  the  sex- 
ual appetite  as  the  leading  element  there  are  aggregated 
manj'  different  feelings,  such  as  admiration,  pleasure  of 
possession,  love  of  freedom,  self-esteem,  and  love  of  appro- 
bation.    A  complete  analysis  of  love  would  fill  a  volume."  ' 

It  is  this  instinct  which  is  the  source  of  most  that  is 

pure  and  noble  in  us ;  and  if  we  were  bereft  of  it  there  would 

be  an  arrest  of  development  of   all  our  virile  qualities. 

From  it  arise  our  love  for  home,  our  rivalry  in  sports,  our 

'  Westermarck,  "  History  of  Human  Marriage, "  p.  356. 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF  THE   SUBJECT.        19 

desire  to  associate  with  the  opposite  sex,  our  delight  in 
music,  poetry,  romance,  ornamentation,  sculjiture,  i)aint- 
ing,  and  all  the  attributes  of  art.  Without  it,  emulation 
would  sleep  and  virtue  flee,  and  we  should  be  as  those  who 
are  emasculated  or  as  those  whose  potency  is  in  anj  way 
impaired — cowardly,  unfit  for  battle,  without  the  distinc- 
tive qualities  of  sexual  beauty,  flabby  in  muscle,  inferior  in 
mental  power,  lacking  in  moral  sense,  and  disinclined  to 
courtship. 

With  its  disappearance  would  come  the  extinction  of  the 
family  line,  while  with  its  vitiation  are  transmitted  to  one's 
offspring  evil  tendencies  which  api^ear  in  multitudinous 
forms  in  the  provinces  of  immorality,  criminality,  insanity, 
perversit}^,  and  various  other  defects  traceable  to  hereditary 
influence. 

Every  normal  individual  has  unmistakable  evidences  of 
sexual  longings  and  desire,  and  from  this  domain  come 
those  impulses  which  are  foremost  in  our  careers. 

Consequently  it  is  every  man's  duty  to  rightly  under- 
stand this  part  of  his  nature,  and  to  have  a  full  compre- 
hension of  the  consequences  which  surely  follow  upon  the 
vitiation  or  perverse  use  of  his  generative  functions. 

The  ^exual_power,  if  properly  subjugated,  is  capable  of 
uj)lifting  man  to  the  highest  levels ;  but  if  given  license  it 
m^Tbear-iiim:  diTR^ir'to~tlie' lowest  depths  of  infamy  and 
disj^ggg,  and  bring_down  in  the  calastrophe^others  whose 
lires^^d  fortunes  are  bound  uj)  with  his. 

ItTs,  then,  alnischievoush'-  stupid  thing  to  be  ignorant 
in  regard  to  sexual  hygiene  and  conduct,  and  uo^jrational 
man  should  be  content  to  go  through  life  blindfolded  to 
those  functions  which  are  the  strongest  elements  of  his 
nature.  He  who  does  not  in-operly  understand  this  potent 
factor  of  sexuality  is  extremely  limited  in  his  power  for 
good,  but  well  equipped  for  exerting  a  pernicious  influ- 
ence— for  every  individual  who  is  possessed  of  the  strongly 
characteristic  attributes  of  manhood  must  belong  either  to 


20  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

the  side  wliicli  is  in  favor  of  purity,  or  to  the  faction  whicli 
practises  and  advocates  sensuality.  After  tlie  advent  of 
puberty  a  neutral  or  indifferent  attitude  is  impossible. 

One  intelligent,  well-informed,  vigorous  and  noble- 
minded  man  is  of  course  worth  a  thousand  mediocre  men 
who  have  distorted  tastes  and  ill-developed  physiques ;  and 
none  can  hope  by  his  influence  to  elevate  or  improve  the 
tribe  or  community  in  which  he  lives  unless  he  is  in  some 
degree  superior  to  the  average  more  or  less  irresponsible 
and  flippant  members.  It  is  in  this  way  that  racial 
improvement  and  human  progress  come  about,— by  the 
advancement  from  the  ranks  of  certain  more  responsible 
individuals,  who,  little  by  little,  set  the  standards  which 
are  ultimateh'  accei^ted. 

Ignorance  is  a  great  evil  and  the  best  friend  of  Vice, 
while  knowledge  is  the  very  foundation  upon  which  the 
stability  of  the  state  most  securely  rests. 
j  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  improper  sexual  con- 
duct is  rife  among  us,  and  that  it  is  polluting  the  sanctity 
of  our  homes  to  a  degree  only  superficialh'  apjireciated. 
The  pure,  healthy  glow  of  Sexualitj^  which  is  the  greatest 
boon  to  the  individual  and  to  the  race,  becomes  a  curse 
when  debased  by  Sensualit^y.  These  two  words  have  be- 
come confused  in  the  language  of  men  of  the  world:  so 
much  so,  that  what  we  grant  to  be  pre-eminently  necessary 
for  the  assurance  of  a  virile  race — namely,  sexual  power — 
has  been  prostituted  by  sensuality. 

Voluptuousness,  of  course,  has  as  its  indispensable  con- 
dition the  degradation  of  a  large  number  of  women,  and  it 
has  come  to  be  a  turbulent  force  which  is  actively  consum- 
ing a  large  jiroportion  of  the  community  of  every  district, 
annihilating  reputations  with  disgrace,  consuming  bodies 
with  disease,  polluting  the  sacredness  of  the  family  and 
the  home,  caricaturing  the  loftiness  of  love,  and  defiling 
the  sacredness  of  marriage. 

There  aro  few  of  either  sex  in  this  aga  who  do  not  know 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       21 

that  vice  and  immorality  and  harlotry  exist  to  a  shocking 
degree;  and  reticence  njion  tliesc  matters  cannot  improve 
onr  ethics,  for  sin  simply  luxuriates  in  secrecy  and  igno- 
rance. — - 
TtTsiiall  be  the  purpose  of  this  book  to  sui)ply  the  reader 
with  all  the  scientifically  accurate  teachings  which  relate 
to  or  bear  upon  a  life  of  immorality,  and  he  shall  be  left 
to  weigh  the  results  and  the  conclusions  according  to  his 
own  judgment.  The  author's  aim  is  not  to  preach,  but  to 
teach,  and  to  present  the  truth  in  its  absolute  form  without 
distortion  or  bias. 

Every  mature  man  knows  fairly  well  what  the  allure- 
ments to  immorality  are,  and  that  every  well-developed 
youth  must  sooner  or  later  pass  through  the  ordeal  of 
temptation;  but  comparatively  few  are  grounded  in  the 
arguments  which  conclusively  show  how  necessary  it  is  to 
preserve  the  sexual  glow  in  its  pure  and  undefiled  vigor. 

What  sin  is  more  universal  than  impurity?  It  is  as 
ancient  as  history  itself,  and  it  has  played  the  most  impor- 
tant part  in  the  decline  and  fall  of~6nce  noble  and  powerful 
nationo.  The  sexual  appetite  remains  with  a  man  and 
gives  a  coloring  to  his  life  from  the  time  of  his  puberty  all 
through  his  active  career,  sometimes  persisting  with  con- 
siderable ardor  even  to  extreme  old  age. 

Simple  warning  positively  will  not  save  a  boy  when  he 
has  left  his  neuter  characteristics  behind  him  and  has 
been  thrown  out  into  the  world.  He  must  be  taught  those 
things  which  Le  is  sure  to  need  when  he  grows  up;  for  ex- 
perience teaches  that  if  a  man  is  to  remain  pure  a  battle- 
royal  is  in  store  for  him,  and  that  he  may  be  overthrown 
in  the  struggle  unless  he  is  a  "hoplite,"  or  heav3^-armed 
soldier,  equipped  with  helmet,  cuirass,  greaves  and  shield, 
bearing  a  sword  and  spear,  and  sheathed  in  the  panoply  of 
knowledge- 
Thoughtless  persons  are  continually  saying  that  to  speak 
out  plainIy~oh  these-Bubjects  merely  fans  the  erotic  fancy 


22  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

into  a  flame,  and  that  it  is  a  mistake  to  suggest  anything 
of  a  sexual  nature.  Nothing  could  be  more  pernicious 
than  this  error,  for  the  imperiousness  of  the  sexual  ap- 
petite will  unfailingly  assert  itself  in  thought  or  action 
throughout  manhood's  days,  and  an  ignorant  person's 
influence  for  good  will  be  nil,  for  he  knows  neither  the 
truth  of  that  which  he  speaks,  nor  the  just  measure  of  the 
results  of  his  actions. 

Reflect  for  a  moment  upon  the  enormous  amount  of  harm 
which  not  speaking  out  has  done !  Ever}"  man  sooner  or 
later  adoj)ts  some  sort  of  creed  for  the  conduct  of  his  sex- 
ual life ;  but  medical  men  realize  that  these  opinions  are, 
as  a  rule,  erroneous  and  immoral. 

An  enormous  e\'il  is  threatening  us  and  surrounds  us 
on  every  side,  poisoning  our  social  relations,  our  amuse- 
ments, our  literature,  our  drama  and  our  art.  It  is  spar- 
ing neither  the  noble  boy  nor  the  innocent  maiden,  and  is 
exhaling  a  deadly  influence  whose  venom  will  continue, 
through  heredity,  to  fester  in  generations  to  come. 

The  enemies  of  the  normal  standards  which  govern  the 
sex-life  are  bold  and  active  in  their  abetting  of  lascivious- 
ness,  and  the  calamitous  results  of  their  work  cannot  be  met 
by  a  timid  and  retiring  silence.  Society",  being  at  present 
in  a  position  wherein  it  tolerates  the  most  odious  vices, 
must  learn  as  well  to  endure  the  remedies  which  aim  to 
secure  decency,  good  order  and  moralitj'. 

There  is  a  criminal  and  degrading  ignorance  among  men 
otherwise  well  informed,  in  regard  to  the  importance  and 
gravity  of  the  sexual  act.  The  Creator  of  all  has  made 
each  individual  a  sub-creator,  and  it  behooves  every  true 
man  to  look  forward  to  fatherhood  with  a  fixed  resolve  to 
be  just  to  his  ofl'spring.  It  is,  furthermore,  the  duty  of 
fathers  to  instruct  their  sons  so  that  they  shall  have  noth- 
ing to  regret  when  they  look  upon  their  first-born  children. 
If  a  man  who  is  to  be  a  father  plays  the  fool,  his  sons  and 
daughters  will  suffer.     The  "  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes. 


IISTTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       23 

and  tlie  cliildren's  teeth  are  set  on  edge,"  says  the  Jewish 
proverb. 

The  time  has  come  when  it  will  not  avail  a  man  to  say 
that  he  knows  nothing  definite  about  these  matters,  for  in 
the  following  i)ages  the  means  of  becoming  intelligent  in 
regard  to  sexnal  conduct  are  at  least  indicated.  It  is  a 
comfort  to  believe  that  the  majority  of  men  will  do  right 
wEen  they  fully  understand  this  important  subject;  aud  if 
any  reader  is  ignorant  or  rust}'  in  his  knowledge,  it  is  high 
time  for  him  to  "get  out  a  new  edition  of  himself." 

"Innocence  and  ignorance  in  regard  to  vice  are  no  safe- 
guard to  a  young  man  or  woman  in  this  age  when  it  is  so 
evident  on  every  hand,  and  no  fond  parent  need  flatter 
himself  that  his  pure  girl  or  boy  will  not  sooner  or  later 
become  subjected  to  improper  conversation  and  influences. 

Too  often  children  are  sent  to  schools  which  are  the  very 
hotbeds  of  temi)tation,  without  a  single  word  of  reliable 
warning  or  teaching  to  guide  them.  How  much  more  just 
to  them  it  would  be  to  send  them  out  properly  instructed 
than  to  leave  these  momentous  questions  to  their  school- 
mates for  settlement ! 

Youth  is  the  time  of  life  when  the  boy  or  girl  hopes  to 
develop  into  a  physically  beautiful  man  or  woman.  Then 
they  have  active  intellects  and  ambitious  for  everything 
which  is  good  and  noble.  No  one  can  foretell  what  a  bo}^ 
will  become  when  he  is  fully  developed ;  and  as  a  rule  the 
child  appreciates  this  perfectly  well,  so  that  he  will,  under 
the  stimulus  of  kindly  encouragement,  seek  the  good  and 
eschew  evil  if  he  understands  the  relationship  of  vice  and 
its  consequences.  From  an  educational  standpoint  this  is 
by  far  the  most  important  period  of  life ;  for  the  mature 
man  will  almost  invariably  continue  to  show  the  same  in- 
stincts and  characteristics  which  he  had  when  a  child,  and 
a  boy  can  no  more  postpone  the  developing  of  his  charac- 
ter to  his  manhood  days  than  he  can  the  strengthening  of 
his  muscles.     "  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  a  belief  con- 


^ 


24  HEREDITY    AND   MORALS. 

stantly  inculcated  during  the  early  years  of  life,  whilst  the 
brain  is  imj)ressible,  ajipears  to  acquire  almost  the  nature 
of  an  instinct ;  and  the  very  essence  of  an  instinct  is  that  it 
is  followed  independently  of  reason."  '  How  important  it 
is,  then,  that  a  child  should  start  out  with  healthy  inclina- 
tions, and  not  by  great  mistakes ! 
\  A  3'oung  man  nowadays  is  expected  to  know  a  good  deal 

^        about  sexual  matters,   and  men  laugh  at  those  who  are 
^        entirely  ignorant  and  uninformed.     Earely  is  it  i)ossible  to 
find  one  who  has  no  ideas  at  all  in  this  direction;  nor  is 
such  innocence  commendable.     As  a  rule,  unfortunately, 
young  men  attain  their  knowledge  by  participation  in  evil 
-C       ways  and  from  evil  conversation,  and  therefore  their  con- 
^      elusions  must  necessarily  be  erroneous.     Complete  igno- 
c-=      ranee  is  imj)ossible.     Men  will  have  either  true  or  false 
notions :  if  false,  they  will  be  led  into  great  and  irreparable 
harm ;  if  true,  they  will  recoil  in  horror  at  the  awful  conse- 
quences of  impurity  to  themselves,  to  womankind,  and  to 
posterity.     One  who  does  not  fully  understand  these  ques- 
">^     tions  is  like  a  ship  which  puts  to  sea  with  a  skipper  in 
^  charge  who  does  not  properly  understand  navigation. 
^"^         In  the  voyage  of  life,  from  the  port  of  clearance  to  the 
final  haven,  it  is  impossible  forever  to  hug  the  shore ;   and 
he  is  a  poor  mariner  indeed  who  is  fit  only  for  fair-weather 
"V  sailing.      Men  are  so  constituted,  in  coutradistinction  to 
women,  that  it  is  hardly  possible  for  them,  if  they  are  sound 
and  strong,   to  grow  up  to  mature  age  immaculate,  and 
A  p  without  the  fault  of  a  sensual  thought,  Avord,  or  deed ;  and 
^  -^     there  can  be  Ho  gainsaying  this.     But  as   true   men  we 
hope  to  have  ])ower  to  resist  temptation — that  the  swords 
which  we  would  wrongfully  wield  may  be  as  lead,  and  that 
whatever  knowledge  we  have  may  be  turned  to  the  benefit 
and  advantage  of  our  brothers.     If  any  one  has  fallen  into 
the  mire,  let  us  "  condemn  the  fault,  and  not  the  actor  of 
it,"  and  let  us  help  him  out,  if  we  can,  by  showing  him 
"^  '  Darwin,  "The  Descent  of  Man,"  p.  123. 


^ 


JJ 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OP  THE   SUBJECT.       25 

why  lie  should  cultivate  his  faculty  of  self-restraint  and 
become  a  self-governed  being. 

Sidney  Smith  says :  "  Yery  few  young  men  have  the 
power  of  negation  in  any  great  degree  at  first.  Every 
young  man  must  be  exposed  to  temptation;  he  cannot 
learn  the  way  of  men  without  being  witness  to  their  vices. 
If  you  attempt  to  preserve  him  from  danger  by  keeping 
him  out  of  the  way  of  it,  you  render  him  quite  unfit  for 
any  style  of  life  in  which  he  may  be  placed.  The  great 
point  is,  not  to  turn  him  out  too  soon,  and  to  give  him  a 
j)ilot." 

It  will  not  do  to  indulge  in  youthful  excesses  and  dissi- 
pations, nor  to  sow  "  wild  oats"  of  the  kind  which  par- 
take of  the  nature  of  sexual  imj^urity,  because  this  sexual 
instinct  is  so  enormously  the  imperious  and  moving  power 
in  our  whole  lives  that  the  early  tampering  with  it  msLj 
produce  a  lasting  impression  on  the  cerebral  centres  which 
may  color  and  poison  all  future  sexual  acts  even  after  mar- 
riage. When  the  reaping  of  the  harvest  comes,  there  is 
likely  to  be,  in  addition  to  disease  which  has  been  acquired, 
a  more  or  less  unconquerable  loathing  for  pure  sexual 
relations  with  one's  wife,  if  the  individual  ever  marries, 
partly  from  fear  of  imjDotency  in  the  pure  relation  with  her, 
partly  from  weakened  powers  brought  about  by  excesses  of 
venery  or  masturbation,  partlj^  on  account  of  the  recollec- 
tion of  some  former  delectable  lascivious  situation  with  a 
loose  woman  which  has  become  an  imperative  and  domi- 
nant concept,  and  partly,  perhaps,  from  an  acquired  pref- 
erence for  unnatural  and  perverted  sexual  acts.  It  will  not 
do  to  sow  "  wild  oats"  which  leave  an  ineradicable  stain  on 
the  mind,  nor  to  implant  them  in  such  soil  that  they  may 
spring  up  and  produce  a  poisonous  crop.  Under  no  cir- 
cumstances can  any  one  at  any  time  be  recommended  to 
trifle  with  affairs  which  belong  to  the  sexual  domain,  for 
in  sowing  "  wild  oats"  of  a  dirty  kind  a  man  simply  inocu- 
lates vice  into  his  posterity  and  throws  an  injection  of 


26  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

ignoble  blood  into  the  course  of  descent  wliich  follows 
after  him  as  an  ancestor.  Any  kind  of  larks  and  escapades 
will  do  which  are  manly,  and  brave,  and  clean  and  honest. 
It  is  right  that  any  man  should  "  dare  do  all  that  may  be- 
come a  man;  who  dares  do  more  is  none."  ' 

Suppose  a  youth  does,  through  innocence,  or  lack  of 
temptation,  or  by  reason  of  fortitude,  arrive  at  maturity 
with  a  clean  record;  is  he  not  still  beset  with  danger?  Not 
hj  any  means  so  much  so  if  he  fully  understands  the  shal- 
lowness of  the  pleasures  in  comparison  with  the  depth  of 
the  penalties.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  men  would 
remain  pure  if  they  fully  understood  the  responsibilities 
and  dangers  incurred  by  a  life  of  impurity;  and  to  those 
who  do  gain  a  just  information  upon  these  matters  there 
is  added  an  increase  of  responsibility,  for  they  can  then 
no  longer  offer  the  exciTse  tTlat  ignorance  mitigates  their 
offences. 

Parents,  too  often  entirely  ignorant  themselves,  say  little 
or  nothing  to  their  children  about  these  subjects,  leaving 
them  dependent  for  their  views  upon  the  foolish  and  vicious 
advice  of  their  companions;  and,  unfortunately,  those  chil- 
dren who  are  perversely  inclined  do  the  most  talking  and 
exert  the  most  influence.  Whatever  counsel  or  warning  in 
reference  to  future  conduct  young  people  get  is  usually 
given  to  them  by  their  elders  either  in  a  way  which  is  un- 
intelligible, or  without  any  appeal  to  their  reason,  and  too 
often  the  vita  sexualis,  or  sexual  life,  of  the  child  is  left  to 
unfold  as  an  undirected  instinct.  How  much  safer  and 
better  it  would  be  if  the  whole  truth  were  expounded  with 
proper  discrimination  at  suitable  periods  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  child's  functions  of  body  and  brain ! 

It  is  amazing  how  much  ignorance  even  the  shrewdest 
and  most  intellectual  men  disjjlay  upon  these  topics.  Men 
who  in  affairs  of  business  carefully  consider  every  aspect 
of  a  case  before  acting,  too  often  put  aside  all  serious  re- 

1  Macbeth,  i.,  7. 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OP   THE   SUBJECT.       27 

gard  for  their  physical  or  moral  health.  It  is  this  unen- 
lightened condition  which  is  productive  of  so  much  harm, 
and  such  a  misconception  may  well  be  called  the  "  devil's 
tool"  by  which  men  make  excuses  to  their  consciences  for 
their  wrong  deeds.  The  ignorant  or  wrongly  instructed 
man  with  lowered  ideals  is  the  one  to  fall  into  great  harm, 
b^ng__^nfortified  to  coi)e  with  the  pressing  temptations 
which  will  surely  assail  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man 
who  knows  what  he  is  about  will  probably  keep  his  record 
clean,  and  will  be  more  apt  to  transfer  to  the  future  the 
indulgence  of  his  impulses. 

The  sexual  functions  being  without  dispute  the  second 
most  powerful  of  the  natural  instincts,  there  should,  then, 
be  given  to  the  consideration  of  their  care  and  conservation 
the  most  healthy  attention.  It  is  futile  to  hope  for  a  per- 
fect condition  of  things  in  a  sexual  way  while  ci\dlization 
remains  as  it  is.  Deviations  from  what  is  proper  in  the 
sexual  domain  can  no  more  be  done  away  with  entireh' 
than  can  murder,  theft,  drunkenness,  lying,  swearing,  or 
other  crimes  and  vices,  and  yet  thousands  can  be  effectively 
influenced  for  good  if  they  are  properly  informed.  Impur- 
ity cannot  be  stamped  out  by  making  it  illegal,  but  it  can 
be  made  impossible,  to  many  altruistically  inclined  indi- 
viduals at  least,  by  replacing  this  sin  with  the  law  of  love 
for  one's  neighbor.  Until  the  members  of  society  are  ac- 
tuated by  this  princii)le  of  love — a  word  which  in  itself 
sums  up  the  fundamental  rules  of  moral  action — some  of 
the  selfish  ones  will  continue  to  rend  the  weaker  to  pieces 
for  their  own  personal  gratification. 

The  aim  of  modern  medical  science  is  getting  to  be  more 
and  more  not  so  much  to  cure  as  to  prevent  disease;  and 
prophylaxis,  or  defending  against  morbid  processes,  is 
now  fully  recognized  to  be  of  paramount  importance. 

Especially  does  this  apply  to  growing  boys  and  young 
persons  in  relation  to  their  sexual  conduct,  for  prevention 
is  far  better  and  more  hopeful  than  cure.     In  fact,  a  cure  of 


28  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

the  plijsical  and  mental  disease  and  corruption  is  too  often""^    " 
impossible — brain-stains  being  hard  to  wash  out  and  disr  ; 

ease  being  often  incurable.     >>-'  '""'  *^' '  "-"^-^^ 

The  mythical  sorceress  Circe  first  enchanted  and  then 
transformed  the  fellow-voyager*  of  Ulysses  into  swine  who 
grovelled  at  her  feet.  And  even  yet,  in  very  truth,  men  from 
every  sphere  of  life,  married  and  single,  rich  and  poor, 
ignorant  and  educated,  continue  to  drink  the  poisoned 
draught  from  her  cup. 

Again,  Ulysses,  being  warned  of  the  sirens  on  the  shores 
of  Sicilj',  who  charmed  all  passers-by  with  their  false 
songs,  stuffed  the  ears  of  his  sailors  with  wax,  and  had 
himself  secureh'  fastened  to  the  mast  of  his  vessel  until  the 
ship  sailed  past  out  of  the  range  of  their  voices ;  and  thus 
he  heard  their  enchanting  music  without  perishing.  But 
no  man  can  go  through  life  protected  by  having  his  ears 
filled  with  prophylactic  wax,  nor  limited  in  the  range  of 
his  vision  by  the  wearing  of  blinders. 

Circe  and  the  sirens  still  continue  to  enchant  and  to  de- 
stroy ;  and  in  order  to  pass  hy  them  unmoved  a  man  must 
rely  on  a  strong  force  of  will,  fortified  by  a  just  and  appre- 
ciative knowledge,  else  "  I  fear  me  the  skiff  and  the  boat- 
men will  both  'neath  the  waters  drown." 

It  is  a  vain  thing  to  cry  out,  "  Save  our  girls !"  when  par- 
ents allow  their  boys  to  grow  up  into  bad  men.  How  cruel 
it  is  to  permit  a  son  to  advance  to  manhood  without  instruc- 
tion ;  to  let  him  flounder  along  an  assuredly  dangerous  road 
without  giving  him  all  possible  directions  which  could  in 
an}'  way  help  him  or  perhaps  save  him  from  utter  ruin ! 

Unlike  the  animals,  man  experiences  shame  and  seeks 
secrecy  when  he  gratifies  his  sexual  ai)petite.  Unchastity, 
being  a  secret  sin,  is  therefore  all  the  more  dangerous.  No 
child  is  safe  from  its  subtle  influence,  and  no  careless  parent 
can  be  assured  that  his  household  is  secure.  Few  boys  in- 
deed escape  from  the  contamination  of  the  evil  teachings 
of  their  schoolfellows,  and  many  of  them  acquire  vitiated 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE    OF   THE   SUBJECT.      29 

tastes  without  in  anj'  way  appreciating  tlieir  gravity,  while 
others  inherit  weakened  wills  and  "fall  victims  to  their 
grandfathers'  excesses." 

The  saddest  sight  in  the  world  is  to  see  a  man  sepulchred 
while  yet  living.  Diseased  himself,  and  with  perverted 
tastes,  he  transmits  the  injury  to  his  innocent  wife  and 
children,  and  no  repentance  is  assuredly  effectual  unless 
he  remain  single. 

A  reformed  profligate  makes  a  poor  husband,  being  coiv"^ 
rupt  in  body,  and  the  slave  of  the  imperious  voluptuous 
recollections  which  bring  before  him  the  debased  images 
of  the  harlots  with  whom   he  formerly  associated.     Aye,    | 
women  can  be  found  who  will  marry  such  .men  i  but  they      / 
and  their  offspring  suffer  terribly  !  -'^"v^-  :5  <*  - '  7^;^'  .  -'"^  "^ 

No  man's  qpiniQiJL-On-.. these. matterais^  so  much  value 
as  the  physician's.  On  account  of  the  nature  of  his  work 
'he  has  an  immense  advantage,  and  is  peculiarly  well  quali- 
fied to  speak,  because  he  sees  clearlj-  in  his  every-day  ex- 
perience the  physical  effects  of  impurity  upon  the  man  and 
his  paramours,  and,  if  he  marry,  upon  his  wife  and  poster- 
ity ;  the  mental  effects  in  widespread  insanity  which  results 
from  disease ;  the  moral  effects  in  the  loss  of  character,  the 
breaking  up  of  home  life,  and  the  loss  of  confidence  between 
husl3and  jmd  jydfe;  and  the  social  effects  in  the  ravages 
which  vice  makes  among  a  large  class  of  humanity. 

Every  doctor  who  regards  his  physicianship  as  a  sacred 
trust  realizes  that  sexual  impurity-  is  jore-eminently  the 
cause  of  most  of  that  which  stands  out  as  hideous  and  dis- 
gusting in  society,  and  feels  that  silence  regarding  this 
question  is  not  in  line  with  his  duty. 

In  the  case  of  a  thoughtful  man  there  should  be  no  one 
so  much  interested  in  his  career  as  he  himself,  and  he 
should  think  out  with  far  more  care  than  any  one  else  the 
problems  of  life  as  they  concern  him.  It  is  his  duty  and 
his  legitimate  privilege  as  a  man  and  citizen  to  ground 
himself  on  the  standard  truths  relating  to  this  subject, 


30  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

wliicli  are  recognized  the  world  over  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession, and  it  will  tbeu  be  proper  for  him  to  be  somewhat 
dogmatic  in  his  conclusions  and  arguments. 

For  the  forcible  presentation  of  any  subject  it  is  of  ex- 
treme importance  to  beware  of  such  a  degree  of  bias  or 
enthusiasm  that  one  is  led  to  be  too  ardent  in  his  utter- 
ances, because  in  that  event  the  judicial  caution  is  set 
aside  and  the  ver}-  purpose  of  persuasion  defeated  by  ex- 
citing oi)i30sitiou  or  disgust.  Many  a  well-meant  argument 
has  gone  for  naught  by  reason  of  this  error.  Would-be 
reformers  and  moralists  there  are  who  lay  too  much  stress 
on  those  phases  of  the  question  which  do  not  appeal  to  a 
large  majority  of  men,  and  the  result  is  that  they  are 
laughed  at  and  jeered  at  and  not  taken  seriously. 

There  are  some  moralists  who  sound  the  slogan :  "  An 
equal  standard  of  purity  for  both  sexes !"  They  accentuate 
the  claim  that  the  sin  of  unchastity  is  equally  heinous  in 
men  and  women,  and  so  of  course  it  is  morally.  But  the 
greater  part  of  mankind  are  selfish  and  prefer  their  own 
private  good  before  all  other  things,  and  by  them  such  an 
assertion  is  regarded  as  unworthy  of  belief,  and  is  of  no 
effect,  true  as  it  may  be. 

Society  has  always  considered  that  irregular  sexual  com- 
merce is  a  more  flagrant  transgression  in  the  case  of  a  woman 
than  in  that  of  a  man,  and,  morality  aside,  it  certainly  is, 
for  an  offence  will  necessarily  be  gauged  by  its  conse- 
quences. It  is  a  greater  sin  for  a  woman  to  be  impure  be- 
cause, as  a  possible  mother,  she  belongs  to  a  higher  and 
more  important  sphere,  to  her  being  intrusted  the  rearing 
up  of  all  liosterit}'.  While  the  man  retains  no  marks  of  in- 
jury to  his  anatomy  as  a  result  of  copulation,  nor  any  other 
effect  to  which  one  can  directh^  x^oiiit,  unless  he  contract 
disease,  the  woman,  on  the  other  hand,  does  so  suffer — in 
bodily  injur}',  in  the  violation  of  her  more  tender  emotions 
and  affections,  and  in  her  very  countenance.  All  the  con- 
spicuous effects  of  sexual  commerce  are  heaped  upon  her : 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE    SUBJECT.      31 

SO  much  so,  that  an  observant  man  can  often  conchide,  with 
a  good  deal  of  accuracy,  by  the  outward  appearance  and 
demeanor  of  a  woman  whether  she  is  leading  an  immoral 
life.  An  immoral  man,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  clearly 
shown  to  be  unfitted  for  the  society  of  ladies  nor  for  the 
ordinary  duties  of  life  in  the  way  that  the  immoral  woman 
is.  Her  own  sex  spurn  her  and  call  her  atrocious.  There- 
fore the  argument  that  the  crime  is  equally  heinous  in 
both  sexes  cannot  appeal  with  great  force  to  the  ordinary 
man  of  the  world  who  knows  better.  Morally,  his  offence 
is  unquestionably  baser,  for  he  stifles  that  chivalric  feeling 
which  all  men  should  at  all  times  show  to  all  women ;  he 
assumes  the  aggressive  role,  while  she  is  passive ;  he  seeks 
to  satisfy  a  carnal  pleasure,  while  she  sins  out  of  a  pliant 
acquiescence  or  for  money ;  he  does  the  pushing  over  the 
precipice  in  safety,  while  she  suffers  the  fall;  he  does  the 
lying,  and  she  the  believing;  he  becomes  the  father  of  the 
illegitimate  child  and  abandons  it,  while  she  undergoes  the 
pains  of  maternity  and  supports  it  afterward  with  her  life's 
blood,  unless  her  moral  sense  has  been  so  deeply  wounded 
that  she  is  led  to  destroy  it. 

But  such  talk  is  idle  for  a  large  number  of  men.  No 
limit  can  be  placed  upon  the  subterfuges  which  the  lasciv- 
ious man  can  invent  in  answer  to  such  arguments  as  do 
not  directly  appeal  to  himself. 

The  laws  of  Nature  and  the  laws  of  morality  which  we 
have  accepted  for  our  standards  will  always  be  found  to 
coincide ;  and  human  society  and  sentiment  are  in  accord 
with  them  as  to  the  importance  of  absolute  fidelity  of  mar- 
ried people  to  each  other.  None  are  so  immoral  as  to 
openly  advocate  adultery,  for  every  one  execrates  the  vio- 
lator of  an  oath,  especially  if  made  at  the  marriage  altar 
before  God  and  man.  "Wliether  it  be  single  or  double 
adultery,  is  immaterial ;  if  either  party  or  both  be  married, 
it  is  adultery  if  they  have  sexual  relations.  In  all  coun- 
tries and  ages  the  punishments  for  it  have  been  serious, 


32  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

and  the  slaying  of  the  male  offender  b}'  a  woman's  husband 
is  even  yet  condoned  and  applauded,  while  juries  do  not 
attempt  to  be  severe  in  their  punishment  of  the  avenger. 
This  is  universally  recognized  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

But  with  our  highly  organized  civilization,  and  with  our 
demands  for  certain  comforts  which  are  now  deemed  essen- 
tial, marriage  is  put  off  more  and  more  remotely,  so  that 
many  cannot  wed  at  all.  "At  more  advanced  stages  of 
civilization,  money  and  inherited  property  often  take  the 
place  of  skill,  strength,  and  working  ability.  Thus,  wife- 
purchase  and  husband-i^urchase  still  persist  in  modern 
society,  though  in  disguised  forms."  ' 

It  is  Dot  meant  to  be  inferred  that  one  is  to  marry  for  the 
mere  sake  of  sexual  gratification,  though  marriage  properly 
is  and  should  be  firmly  founded  upon  a  deep  sexual  feeling, 
even  though  this  desire  plays  an  unrecognized  part  therein. 
This  is  a  dvnamicnl  and  leading  fact  in  the  sciences  of  an- 
thropologj^  and  sociology,  and  can  never  be  lost  sight  of  in 
the  evolution  of  the  successive  phases  of  social  develop- 
ment. Marriage  is  desirable,' and  is  the  goal  toward  which 
every  normal  man,  if  circumstances  permit,  should  strive. 
But  even  though  a  man  remain  unmarried,  he  can  do  more 
good  to  his  tribe  or  community  by  setting  the  example  of 
a  glorious  life  than  can  others,  who  do  not  possess  his  ster- 
ling qualities,  by  the  begetting  of  progeny. 

What  shall  those  do  who  cannot  marry  and  who  yet 
feel  the  natural  gnawing  of  the  sexual  appetite?  Here 
is  the  stumbling-block — what  men  call  the  "natural,  im- 
perious appetite."  These  are  men  who  have  imposed  no 
oaths  or  obligations  upon  themselves ;  who  see  no  verj'^  evil 
consequence  to  themselves  if  they  follow  after  the  night- 
walking  daughters  of  Lilith;  whom  society  does  not  se- 
verely condemn,  and  who  do  not  recognize  any  very  de- 
cisive prohibition.  Fornication  most  certainly  is  not  so 
wicked  as  adultery,  and  many  a  man  persuades  himself 
■  Westermarck,  "  History  of  Human  Marriage, "  p.  382. 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       33 

into  the  belief  that  he  ma}-  properly  indulge  in  it,  and  that 
he  will  in  some  way  escape  the  responsibility  of  parentage. 

How  shall  such  a  man  act?  To  aid  him  in  the  decision 
this  book  is  written,  he  being  left  to  be  the  judge  for  him- 
self. But  this  much  must  be  demanded  of  him,  that  he  act 
intelligently. 

To  some,  one  argument  appeals,  while  it  disgusts  others, 
and  many  may  be  offended  at  any  allusion  to  religion. 
But  in  most  men  there  is  a  religious  element  inseparably 
united  with  the  phj^sical ;  and  some  heed  must  therefore 
be  paid  to  it  physiologically.  Christianity  says  that  our 
bodies  are  temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  that  we  are  to 
ke§p  them  pure  and  andefiled  before  God,  and  every  reflec- 
tive person  of  course  knows  that  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom 
to  keep  the  body  clean  and  to  have  good  and  honest  pur- 
poses. The  truth  of  this  is  seemingly  apparent  only  to  a 
select  few,  while  tens  of  thousands  entirely  reject  it,  sound 
as  it  is  from  a  physiological  standpoint.  A  deep  impres- 
sion, however,  must  be  made  on  any  man  when  the  truth 
is  presented  in  all  its  aspects,  and  when  there  are  laid  be- 
fore him  for  his  consideration  the  fearful  responsibilities 
which  he  incurs  by  following  a  life  of  immoralitj'  and  lust — 
responsibilities  for  being  the  father  of  an  illegitimate  child 
which  may  be  and  so  often  is  killed  by  criminal  abortion, 
or  which,  if  it  lives,  will  be  a  homeless  or  degraded  out- 
cast; responsibilities  for  ruining  a  girl,  or,  if  she  has 
already  fallen,  for  helj^ing  to  crush  the  womanhood  out  of 
her  rather  than  to  help  her  up ;  responsibilities  for  con- 
tracting venereal  diseases  which  ruin  his  health  and  happi- 
ness, and  which  maj^  be  imparted  to  his  wife-to-be  and  off- 
spring for  generations  to  come ;  responsibilities  to  society 
for  promoting  harlotry  with  all  its  complex  evil  conse- 
quences, and  reponsibilities  for  defiling  all  the  finer  moral 
and  emotional  parts  of  his  nature.  For  all  of  this  we  ab- 
solutely know  that  the  offender  must  personally  suffer  in 
this  present  life,  as  well  as  the  woman  and  childi-en  who 
3 


34  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

share  the  good  and  the  bad  with  him ;  and  no  man  can 
divorce  himself  from  the  strong  belief  that  he  will  have  to 
render  an  account  to  his  Maker  for  overstepping  the  bounds 
of  religion,  which,  after  all,  is  nothing  but  an  unrecognized 
branch  of  higher  physiology.  The  responsibility  of  tak- 
ing life  has  been  recognized  from  the  earliest  times ;  the 
responsibility  of  giving  birth  to  life  is  equally  great. 

For  such  as  are  appealed  to  by  any  consideration  of  re- 
ligion, it  is  well  to  reflect  that  everything  in  Holy  Writ 
directly  teaches  that  the  unreformed  profligate,  the  forni- 
cator and  adulterer,  has  no  place  or  part  in  the  Holy  City  ; 
that  his  name  is  blotted  out  from  the  "Book  of  Life,"  and 
that  he  must  remain  "without,"  where  are  "dogs,  and 
sorcerers,  and  whoremongers,  and  murderers,  and  idolators, 
and  whosoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie."  ' 

The  assurance  is  here  emphatically  given  that  the  laws 
of  religion,  of  the  true  moralist,  and  of  the  physician  and 
hygienist  are  all  in  complete  harmony,  and  the  chaos  of 
confusion  only  exists  in  the  disordered  minds  of  those  who 
seek  for  excuses  which  would  shame  the  inferior  animals. 

As  Maudsley  says,  "  The  foolishest  opinion  has  commonly 
some  partial  facet  of  sense" ;  and  men  are  abroad,  filled  with 
sophistry,  who  make  all  kinds  of  pretexts  to  justify  them- 
selves and  others ;  who  call  that  which  is  bitter,  sweet ;  that 
which  is  unhealthy,  physiological;  that  which  is  evil, 
good;  and  that  which  is  a  grave  social  harm,  expedient. 
Fortunately,  the  most  worthless  and  shameless  members  of 
the  community  are  somewhat  prevented  from  propagating 
their  kind  by  barrenness  and  sterility,  and,  as  the  result  of 
disease,  their  vitiated  progeny  are  apt  to  be  eliminated  in 
time. 

To  the  vigorous,  and  the  active  and  the  sound,  whose 
generative  functions  remain  unimpaired,  with  a  pure  and 
normal  glow  of  healthy  activity,  comes  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  their  descendants  will  be  the  fittest  and  the 

'  Rev.  xxii.  15. 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       35 

most  likely  to  survive  in  tlie  struggle  for  existence ;  and  this 
is  no  mean  comfort  to  those  who  have  the  normal  philo- 
progenitive ambitions. 

Tennyson's  hero,  the  spotless,  virgin  and  blameless 
knight  Sir  Galahad,  who  went  in  quest  of  the  Holy  Grail, 
made  this  boast : 

"  My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten, 
Because  my  heart  is  pure. " 

"  What  stronger  breastplate  than  a  heart  untainted  ! " 

Shakespeare,  2  Henry  VI. ,  iii. ,  2. 

Purity  is,  in  fact,  the  crown  of  all  real  manliness ;  and  the 
vigorous  and  the  robust,  who  by  repression  of  evil  have 
preserved  their  sexual  potency,  make  the  best  husbands 
and  fathers,  and  they  are  the  direct  benefactors  of  the  race 
by  begetting  progeny  who  are  not  predisposed  to  sexual 
vitiation  and  bodily  and  mental  degeneracy.  These  are 
laws  which  are  universally  recognized  bv  all  breeders  of 
stock  and  by  those  who  have  made  a  study  of  the  races  of 
mankind. 

From  a  purely  selfish  standpoint  a  man  must  give  heed 
to  an  even  stronger  impulse  than  the  sexual  appetite — 
namely,  to  the  law  of  self-preservation.  He  must  consider 
1.  The  peril  to  his  body;  2.  The  peril  to  his  character  or 
moral  constitution. 

The  reader  is  here  cautioned  not  to  rely  too  much  on  his 
own  slender  experience,  but  to  seek  after  the  unalterable 
truth ;  for  his  personal  observations  have  probably  not  led 
him  to  see  either  the  death  of  the  body  or  the  damnation 
of  the  psychical  characteristics,  and  he  is  not  at  once  struck 
by  these  perils.  We  must  reflect  that  Nature  is  leisurely ; 
and  when  we  have  added  a  considerable  number  of  years  to 
our  experience  we  can  see  that  her  laws  pursue  their 
course  unerringly,  and  that  no  pardon  is  granted  for 
sins  committed  against  the  body,  whether  knowingly  or 
not. 


36  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

The  statement  is  almost  without  exception  that  every  one 
who  pursues  unlawful  sexual  indulgence  to  any  consider- 
able extent  gets  inoculated  with  disease  sooner  or  later,  and 
only  very  rarely  is  it  otherwise.  It  is  the  part  of  a  foolish 
man  to  say,  "I'll  take  my  chances,"  for  he  not  only  im- 
perils his  whole  fiiture  life,  and  that  of  his  wdfe-to-be  and 
offspring,  but  also  practically  elects  to  acquire  disease.  We 
phj'sicians  see  these  men  who  have  "  taken  their  chances" ; 
we  see  sterility  acquired  by  them  and  imparted  to  their 
wives ;  we  see  innocent  wives  and  children  suffer  from  un- 
merited venereal  diseases,  the  nature  of  which  obviously 
cannot  be  revealed ;  we  see  the  severest  operations,  where 
women's  abdomens  are  cut  oi^en  by  the  surgeon's  knife  for 
the  removal  of  the  diseased  reproductive  organs ;  we  fre- 
quently see  young  wives  rendered  chronic  invalids  from  the 
time  of  their  marriage,  and  sometimes  we  see  them  die; 
Ave  see  premature  deaths  of  foetuses  from  disease,  and  chil- 
dren with  distorted  anatomy  and  vulnerable  tissues ;  we  see 
blind  asylums  and  insane  asylums  recruited  as  the  after- 
math of  men's  "chances."  We  see  men  who  must  contin- 
ually be  debased  by  nursing  their  genitals ;  men  with  whom 
we  come  in  contact  with  disgust,  and  who  render  filthy 
whatever  utensil  they  touch;  we  see  men  who  cr}'  from 
their  very  souls :  "  Woe  !  woe !  woe  !  would  that  I  had  died 
before  I  was  damned!"  We  see  men  who  must  be  in 
regular  attendance  upon  doctors,  sometimes  in  order  even 
to  urinate ;  we  see  men  who  pay  enormous  sums  of  money 
to  doctors  unless  they  dishonestly  evade  the  payment  of 
their  bills  or  take  their  i)laces  in  venereal  dispensaries  with 
the  dregs  and  scum  of  the  earth.  These  men  must  suffer, 
and  cause  horrible  suffering  to  others ;  and  even  with  the 
best  treatment  and  care  they  often  cannot  be  assuredly 
cured,  and  often  must  forever  be  inferior  to  what  they  orig- 
inally were.  Still  another  of  Nature's  penalties  is  over- 
looked by  most  men.  Those  who  have  been  at  all  obser- 
vant will  appreciate  that  the  lustful  act  is  very  closely 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       37 

associated  with  tlie  affections,  with  love,  and  with  senti- 
ment. Without  this  disposition  of  the  mind  the  mere 
sensual  enjoyment  of  the  act,  per  se,  would  afford  compar- 
atively little  pleasure.  With  the  lower  animals  this  is  not 
so,  and  they  cannot  be  immoral,  experiencing  no  shame, - 
being  immune  from  venereal  diseases,  and  having  no  tribal 
customs  of  marriage. 

So  it  is  not  fair  to  the  brute  creation  to  say  that  the 
grossly  lustful  man  "  makes  a  beast  of  himself"  when  he 
throws  aside  the  human  elements  of  his  nature.  And  it  is 
certainly  true  that  we  can  name  no  animal  that  is  as  bad  as 
some  men. 

A  man  cannot,  however,  eliminate  every  spark  of  hu- 
manity from  himself,  nor  cast  aside  entirely  his  affections 
and  power  of  loving,  and  the  worst  that  can  be  said  about 
any  man  is  probably  not  true.  But  these  finer  qualities  of 
the  affections  can  easily  be  perverted,  in  which  event  they 
will  forever  be  indelibly  contaminating  factors  in  his  brain, 
recurring  to  him  unbidden  both  in  his  dream-life  and  in 
his  memory  even  after  marriage,  flavoring  the  sexual  con- 
gress with  his  own  wife  by  a  reversion  of  his  recollection  to 
former  scenes  of  debauchery  which  have  become  with  him 
imperious  mental  concepts. 

These  memory-pictures  are  reproduced  to  the  mind  with- 
out effort,  spontaneously,  by  the  association  of  ideas.  The 
nixas  seusnalis,  or  voluptuous  orgasm,  is  attended  by  an 
exalted  hypersensibility  of  the  cerebral  cortex  which  renders 
the  brain  peculiarly  receptive  at  that  time  to  the  operation 
of  various  concomitant  influences,  so  that  whatever  impres- 
sions are  brought  prominently  before  the  mind  during  the 
consummation  of  the  sexual  act  are  at  subsequent  periods 
ai)t  to  be  recalled  to  the  memory,  unsummoned,  through 
the  association  of  ideas. 

Promiscuous  intercourse  with  women  increases  desire 
beyond  natural  limits,  while  it  also  strongly  perverts  the 
tastes  and  desires  in  a  psychical  sense,  especially  in  neuro- 

.'J537'86 


38  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

pathic  individuals;  and  in  this   way  perversions   of  the 
genesic  instinct  are  readily  acquired. 

That  nation,  whose  men  by  the  courage  of  their  convic- 
tions exercise  patriotism  and  sjmpathy  and  altruism  and 
chastity  and  fidelity  to  themselves  and  to  their  women, 
has  in  it  the  elements  of  a  high  civilization  which  con- 
stantly tends  to  rise  and  to  imfjrove,  and  in  the  struggle 
for  supremacy  among  the  tribes  of  the  earth  it  will  surely 
be  victorious  over  other  peoples  that  are  lewd  and  unchaste 
and  ignobly  ungallant  and  unjust  to  their  women. 

Even  the  skeptic  who  entertains  the  belief  that  after 
death  there  is  no  judgment  to  come,  must  pause  to  con- 
sider when  he  is  reminded  that  there  is,  after  all,  such  a 
thing  as  sin. 

"  Blinded  by  the  concei)tion  of  sin  as  an  oflfence  against  a 
supernatural  power,  it  has  been  impossible  for  the  indi- 
vidual to  see  that  sin  is  foolishness  in  the  natural  world, 
and  to  realize  his  responsibility  for  being  sin's  fool.  If  it 
were  desired  to  breed  a  degenerate  human  being,  sinful, 
vicious,  criminal,  or  insane,  what  would  be  the  safest 
recipe?  To  engage  his  progenitors  in  an  antiphysiological 
or  antisocial  life;  to  impregnate  them  thoroughly  Avith 
alcohol  or  with  hypocrisy,  with  syphilis  or  with  selfish- 
ness, with  gluttony  or  with  guile,  with  an  extreme  lust  of 
the  flesh  or  an  extreme  pride  of  life.  When  mankind  has 
learned  the  ways  bj'  which  degenerate  beings  have  come  to 
be,  it  will  be  able  to  lay  down  rules  to  prevent  their  i^ro- 
duction  in  time  to  come ;  but  in  order  to  do  that,  it  must 
substitute  for  the  notion  of  sin  and  its  consequences  in  a 
life  to  come  after  death  the  notion  oi  fault  of  organic  man- 
ufacture and  its  consequences  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion in  the  life  that  now  is — must  not  rest  satisfied  to  look 
outside  nature  for  supernatural  inspirations,  divine  or 
diabolic,  but  seek  for  natural  inspirations  within  itself  which 
it  can  observe,  study,  and  manage."  ' 

'  Maudsley,  "The  Pathology  of  the  Mind." 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OP  THE   SUBJECT.       39 

If  the  penalties  meted  out  to  tlie  impure  are  so  many, 
there  is  yet  comfort  for  the  unmarried  man  in  those  pages 
which  show  that  perfect  continence  is  quite  compatible 
with  perfect  health;  and  thus  a  great  load  is  at  once  lifted 
from  the  mind  of  him  who  wishes  to  be  conscientious  as 
well  as  virile  and  in  health,  with  all  the  organs  of  the  body 
performing  their  proper  functions. 

Impurity  of  course  leads  downward  to  decay  and  death ; 
and  out  of  consideration  for  the  law  of  self-jjreservation  any 
wise  man  will  adopt  the  course  of  repressing  his  appetite, 
for  the  penalties  which  attend  it  are  so  inexorable  as  to  be 
beyond  accepting. 

Unless  a  man  understand  fairly  well  that  part  of  his 
nature  which  belongs  to  the  sexual  domain,  he  is  not  effec- 
tively educated,  and  is  liable  to  be  overtaken  by  injury  and 
ruin.  The  result  of  good  education  is  to  teach  self-control 
and  a  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  others,  while  selfish- 
ness is  the  attribute  of  him  who  has  little  mentality  or 
education.  A  wise  man  will  of  course  wish  to  know  what 
he  ought  to  do  and  what  he  ought  to  avoid,  which  is  im- 
possible if  he  relies  solely  upon  his  instincts  and  the  com- 
mon talk  of  his  companions ;  and  he  will  not  be  safe  from 
harm  unless  he  has  a  just  appreciation  of  that  side  of  his 
physical  nature  which  is  the  well-spring  of  most  that  is 
noble  and  vigorous  and  majestic  in  him.  One,  if  not  the 
chief,  object  of  education  is  to  enable  us  to  gain  a  mastery 
over  our  animal  instincts,  to  raise  ourselves  above  the 
level  of  the  lower  creatures,  to  occupy  a  dignified  i)ositiou 
among  the  solid  men  of  the  community,  and  to  learn  how 
to  counteract  the  unfavoralile  hereditary  tendencies  which 
each  individual  inherits  from  some  of  his  numerous  ances- 
tors. So  strong  is  the  sexual  instinct  that  it  is  natural  for 
men  to^  long  for  women,  and  at  some  time  or  other  to  con- 
template marriage :  one  from  love,  to  make  Iwmself  and  the 
woman  supremely  happy  by  having  his  soul  knit  with  hei^s ; 
one  from  the  praiseworthy  desire  to  beget  children  who 


40  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

shall  bring  honor  to  his  name  and  perpetuate  the  family 
line ;  another  from  romance ;  and  others  purely  for  the  base 
purpose  of  gratifying  their  sensual  appetites. 

Since  men  unquestionably  devote  so  much  of  their  at- 
tention to  sexual  matters,  it  is  of  the  highest  importance 
that  their  thoughts  should  be  directed  in  i^roper  channels, 
and  that  they  should  clearly  comi^reheud  those  funda- 
mental truths  which  at  present  onh^  a  select  few  are  privi- 
leged to  know.  Any  impairment  in  power  or  function  of 
the  sexual  organs  is  a  terrible  calamity,  because  it  makes  a 
man  decidedly  less  a  man,  and  because  a  vitiation  of  the 
sexual  attributes  is  physiologically,  or  rather  pathologi- 
cally, necessarily  associated  with  ethical  defect. 

Anaesthesia,  or  absence  of  sexual  desire,  is  dej^lorable ;  for 
then  the  man  has  the  neuter  characteristics  of  the  child  or 
of  senility,  whom  the  beauties  of  women  or  the  pleasure  of 
their  companionship  do  not  stimulate  to  manly  ambitions 
and  conduct. 

Hypei'cestliesia,  or  increased  sexual  desire,  is  deplorable ; 
for  then  the  man  has  an  inordinate  and  unnatural  concupis- 
cence, and  is  thrown  into  an  unseemly  excitement,  not  only 
by  the  mere  presence  of  women  and  i^ersonal  contact  with 
them,  but  also  by  lascivious  mental  images,  or  by  anything 
of  a  nature  which  can  be  distorted  into  obscenitj-.  Such 
men  unduly  magnify  the  importance  of  the  vita  sexuali'i, 
or  sexual  life,  and  look  upon  womankind,  and  even  objects 
of  feminine  attire,  with  sensual  eyes.  Such  a  perverted 
tendencj^  which  is  easily  acquired,  leads  to  very  great 
harm,  such  as  obscenity  of  conversation  and  imagination, 
enthusiasm  for  vile  literature  and  pictures  and  debasing 
theatrical  exhibitions,  and  a  preference  for  consorting  with 
a  low  set  of  men  and  women. 

Pajxesthesia,  or  perversion  of  the  sexual  instinct,  is  de- 
plorable ;  for  the  individual  is  then  a  "  step-child  of  Nature. " 
Largely  inherited,  it  may  also  readily  be  acquired  by  mas- 
turbating, or  practising  other  execrable  sexual  acts.     Indi- 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       41 

viduals  whose  brains  are  stained  in  this  waj-,  with  impres- 
sions which  are  often  permanent,  frequently  follow  the 
most  abhorrent  practices  and  lead  astray'  such  unfortunate 
youths  as  they  can  find  for  their  victims.  Unfortunately, 
the  polluted  mind  does  not  appreciate  its  hurt. 

It  is  not  to  be  thought  that  all  men  who  are  impure  suffer 
such  penalties  as  these ;  nor  yet  is  it  to  be  thought  that 
these  conditions  are  very  rare.  It  will  be  well  for  him  who 
so  far  considers  himself  clean  and  pure  not  to  boast,  lest 
he  may  fall;  for  the  bright  steel  of  the  sword's  blade  is  not 
safe  from  rust  and  corrosion.  The  dew  and  the  wet  will 
quickly  damage  that  sword  unless  it  is  held  up  and  pro- 
tected ;  and  although  the  grindstone  and  emery-wheel  may 
remove  that  rust,  it  will  yet  be  a  sword  with  another  face. 

Every  individual  has  some  moral  sense,  i:)artly  inherited, 
partly  acquired,  which  is  stamped  upon  his  personality  as 
his  most  noble  attribute;  and  it  can  never  be  entirely 
effaced,  though  it  may  be  much  marred  by  ill-usage  or 
tarnished  by  exposure  to  the  fumes  of  an  evil  atmosphere. 
Every  one  is  equipped  with  some  conscience  which  tells 
him  in  a  way  admitting  of  no  dispute  what  he  ought  to  do ; 
and  although  it  may  fail  to  restrain  him  from  wrongdoing, 
nevertheless  it  fails  not  to  punish  by  reproaching  and  con- 
demning him. 

This  sense  of  duty,  which  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a 
racial  instinct,  has,  by  working  atavistically  through  the 
education  of  centuries,  become  fixed  as  a  principle  which 
we  say  should  be  supreme  over  all  our  actions,  leading  us 
to  consider  the  welfare  of  others,  to  ignore  ridicule,  threats, 
bribery,  flattery,  or  even  to  imperil  our  lives  for  others 
who  are  in  danger. 

Those  who  have  deeply  pursued  studies  in  heredity  tell 
us  that  the  past  is  i)rofouudly  at  work  in  the  present, 
and  that  we  may  expect  life  and  history  in  the  future  to  be 
largely  moulded  by  the  vice  or  virtue,  the  health  or  disease, 
the  normal  stability  of  the  nervous  system  or  the  neuras- 


42  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

tlienia  of  those  who  are  now  living,  to  flow  down  in  a 
stream  to  the  generations  to  come.  Every  rightly  minded 
man  wishes  in  his  heart  to  subdue  those  hereditary  tenden- 
cies which  are  defects  and  imperfections,  and  to  consolidate 
and  develoj)  within  himself  and  transmit  to  his  descendants 
certain  high  and  virtuous  social  instincts  of  commanding 
importance,  such  as  love,  and  sympathy,  and  self-control, 
and  chivalry  toward  women,  and  altruism.  This  conscience 
has  been  defined  as  the  "vicegerent  of  God,"  or,  as  Byron 
says,  "  The  oracle  of  God."  It  is  a  monitor  of  the  actions 
of  all  normal  men,  preventing  the  full  enjoj-ment  of  wrong- 
ful deeds  and  motives,  and  reproving  them  when  they  dis- 
obey its  voice.  Bj-  neglecting  its  monitions  one  can  so 
blunt  its  sensibilities  that  it  becomes  functionless,  and 
may  eventually  cease  to  operate  in  a  healthy  way;  and 
when  that  has  occurred  he  is  no  longer  a  desirable  mem- 
ber of  a  community,  but  a  menace  to  that  good  order 
which  renders  it  possible  for  the  human  race  to  live  socially 
together. 

By  fanning  his  desire  and  stifling  his  conscience,  by  the 
emploj-ment  of  artificial  stimulants  and  mental  trickery,  a 
man  can  force  himself  to  enter  iiito  pursuits  and  relation- 
ships which,  could  he  but  know,  he  would  detest  in  his  an- 
cestors. Men  do  not  seem  to  realize  the  tremendous  impor- 
tance of  heredity',  and  that  their  illegitimate  pleasures  and 
acquired  preferences  for  impure  courses  are  as  likely  to 
crop  out  in  their  daughters  as  in  their  sons,  invariably  in 
an  evil  way,  sometimes  as  a  surcharge  of  lustful  passion, 
sometimes  as  a  directing  influence  toward  vice  and  crime, 
and  sometimes  as  disease;  and  it  is  well  recognized  that 
the  progeny  of  the  impure  have  in  the  domain  of  their 
sexual  lives  a  distinct  predilection  for  morbid  tendencies 
colored  by  eroticism. 

The  lustful  impulse  which  leads  a  man  to  seek  an  agree- 
able sensation  in  an  evil  environment,  which  is  a  social  sin 
of  extreme   moment,   is   entirely  incompatible  with  this 


INTRODUCTION — IMPORTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       43 

racially  implanted  i^riuciple  called  conscience  upon  which 
the  foundations  of  all  moralitj^  rest. 

Of  course  the  irresponsible  fornicator,  who  allows  his 
lower  impulses  to  become  fixed  characteristics,  cannot  for  a 
moment  contend  that  he  acts  in  accordance  with  true  moral- 
ity for  the  benefit  of  others  of  the  race,  nor  can  he  at  this 
stage  realize  to  what  an  extent  he  shatters  all  the  essential 
elements  of  the  Laio  of  Honor  ;  for  if  he  did,  he  would  burn 
up  with  shame  at  the  thought  of  causing  so  much  suffering, 
so  much  agonj',  so  much  saturation  of  evil  to  himself,  to 
his  paramours,  to  his  wife,  to  his  children  and  their 
children,  and  to  society.  A  decent  man,  after  yielding  to 
a  temptation  which  he  feels  to  be  immoral  and  base,  is  im- 
pressed with  a  feeling  of  personal  dissatisfaction,  remorse 
and  shame,  and  sometimes  undergoes  such  a  revulsion  of 
feeling  that  he  effectually  repents. 

Our  intellectual  functions  are  so  far  under  the  control  of 
the  will  power  that  we  can  by  practice  largely  direct  any 
selected  one  as  we  choose.  None  is  so  susceptible,  if  we 
cheat  ourselves  into  so  thinking,  as  this  internal  tribunal 
called  conscience,  Avhich,  by  repeated  efforts,  we  may  snuff 
out  and  cover  with  a  pall. 

As  the  cicatrix  over  a  wounded  surface,  for  instance  an 
extensive  burn,  has  an  impaired  sensitiveness  owing  to  the 
destruction  of  the  sensory  nerves  which  normally  supply 
the  skin,  so  also  does  an  habitually  disregarded  conscience 
lose  its  sensitiveness  and  become  "  seared  as  with  a  hot 
iron."  One  of  the  necessary  equipments,  then,  for  a 
pleasurable  life  of  lust  is  a  seared  conscience,  or  else  one 
must  suffer  the  humiliation  and  remorse  which  condemn 
the  man  who  recognizes  such  a  thing  as  personal  account- 
ability. 

At  the  very  least,  men  should  exhibit  toward  women  that 
same  equality  of  consideration  and  recognition  which  is 
common  among  the  brutes  to  their  females.  And  if  ihej  but 
fully  realized  the  truth,  they  would  deeply  reverence  their 


44  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

women,  who,  witli  their  more  heavenl}'-  endowments  and 
potentiality  for  motherhood,  rightfully  occupy  the  throne 
of  Nature;  and  they  would  jjrotect  their  mothers'  sex  with 
all  their  force  and  sympathy  and  influence.  We  main- 
tain that  the  man  who  dishonors  woman  by  the  purchase 
of  her  virtue,  by  deceit,  treachery,  savagery,  or  ruffianism, 
falls  short  of  the  moral  jiossibilities  of  the  dog. 

Travellers  in  Scotland  have  the  custom,  when  they  climb 
to  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  of  casting  a  stone  upon  the 
"cairn,"  or  heaj)  of  stones,  which  one  will  usually  find 
there.  Thus  the  pile  grows  and  becomes  more  imposing. 
So  by  what  is  to  come  we  hope  to  add  somewhat  to  the 
upbuilding  of  an  imjjortant  landmark  which  is  forever 
prominent  in  the  landscai:)e  of  every  one.  It  is  vain  to 
hoi)e  that  improvement  in  morality  will  come  about  sijon- 
taneously,  for  truth  and  knowledge  are  useful  only  if 
spread  broadcast.  The  medical  profession,  the  true  guar- 
dians of  the  public  weal,  are  responsible  for  the  dissemi- 
nation of  specific  information  on  these  matters ;  but  their 
efforts  at  instruction  must  necessarily  be  met  by  some 
concentration  of  attention  on  the  part  of  the  layman,  pref- 
erably critical  rather  than  apathetic.  While  manj^  claim 
that  these  times  are  not  so  corrupt  as  those  of  past  genera- 
tions, yet  we  are  suffering  for  sins  which  were  then  com- 
mitted, and  there  is  much  discouraging  reason  to  believe 
that  abortions  are  more  frequent,  that  unprotected  women 
are  more  numerous  and  unsafe,  that  houses  of  assignation 
and  ill-fame  are  more  patronized,  that  venereal  diseases 
are  more  i^revaleut ;  and  he  who  runs  may  read  in  the  daily 
press  of  our  large  cities  advertisements  of  charlatans,  abor- 
tionists, baby-farmers,  and  even  of  bi'othels  for  sexual 
perverts  under  the  disguise  of  "baths  and  massage." 

Impuritj",  vice  and  loathsome  disease  are  brought  be- 
fore the  eyes  of  even  the  tenderest  and  j^urest  boys  and 
girls  by  these  shocking  announcements;  and  in  addition 
to  this,  a  reservoir  of  erotic  and  subtly  dangerous  litera- 


INTRODUCTION — IMPOKTANCE   OF   THE   SUBJECT.       45 

ture  lias  burst  fortli  in  a  hissing  and  horrible  torrent  which 
gushes  out  and  threatens  the  nation,  overwhelming  such  as 
are  unfortunate  in  hereditary'  tendencies  or  in  environment. 
A  community  which  will  knowingly  permit  this  has  the 
elements  of  decay  in  it.  In  a  quiet  and  dignified  way  it 
is  our  duty  to  discuss  this  question  as  man  to  man,  while 
to  remain  silent  would  be  to  incur  a  criminal  resi^onsibil- 
ity.  We  cannot  pass  our  fellow-beings  by,  no  matter  how 
low  they  have  fallen,  as  if  their  faces  were  but  mere  masks, 
but  must  stop  to  consider  the  brotherhood  and  sisterhood 
which  exists  between  us.  If  any  of  our  readers  are  hostile, 
let  us  now  agree  to  an  armistice — all  of  us  being  quite  fa- 
miliar with  the  customary  arguments  which  are  offered  in 
favor  of  pursuing  the  war  on  women — and  i)erchance  by  the 
honorable  truce  we  may  be  able  to  elaborate  terms  of  peace. 

Otherwise,  if  we  can  come  to  no  agreement,  if  the  physi- 
cian is  to  be  lightly  dubbed  a  fool,  let  us  separate.  But 
before  we  come  to  our  last  review,  when  Death,  who  al- 
ways triumphs,  holds  his  court,  when  the  bugle-call  whose 
summons  none  can  resist  sounds  out,  let  us  compare  notes 
and  observe  the  sum-total  of  rewards  and  punishments 
which  each  has  earned. 

The  enemy  need  no  recruits,  for  their  regiments  are  over- 
crowded ;  but  with  some  assurance  we  hoi:»e  that  the  strong- 
est and  fittest  and  most  genuine  and  manl}'^  will  eventually 
wear  the  uniform  of  honor,  and  cause  good  principles  to 
prevail. 

If  we  must  separate  in  disagreement,  it  is  but  fair  to  give 
the  admonition  that  the  unanimous  voice  of  that  observant 
profession  which  alone  is  qualified  to  know  says — that,  ir- 
respective of  the  harm  you  do  to  others,  you  are  to  beware 
lest  you  drink  a  potion  foul  as  hell,  and  "  fall  a  victim  to 
a  cureless  ruin." 


CHAPTER   n. 

PHYSIOLOGY  OF  THE   SEXUAL  LIFE. 

Human  life  is  divisible  physiologically  into  certain  well- 
defined  stages,  separable  by  tolerably  clear  lines  of  demar- 
cation. In  our  march  through  life  toward  our  graves,  each 
normal  individual,  as  long  as  the  reproductive  glands  main- 
tain the  power  of  their  physiological  processes,  has  an 
inherent  desire  for  the  perpetuation  of  the  species.  This 
desire  constitutes  the  sexual  instinct. 

In  order  to  learn  how  to  live  rightly  we  must  understand 
ourselves  at  each  stage  of  the  march,  lest  a  deadly  blight 
settle  upon  us  from  which  we  may  not  be  able  to  escape, 
and  lest  we  become  "  sin's  fools,"  without  the  power  of  per- 
petuating healthy  offspring. 

Time  crowds  us  on  from  one  stage  to  another,  and  while 
we  are  yet  acting  children's  parts,  a  mighty  change,  a  new 
birth  almost,  ushers  us  into  our  most  important  decade, 
namely,  that  period  between  puberty  and  maturity. 

The  stages  of  human  life  may  properly  be  described  as 
seven  in  number,  as  follows : 

1.  Ten  lunar,  or  nine  calendar  months  within  the  womb, 
during  which  w^e  are  not  "air-breathers." 

2.  Infanc}',  terminating  at  the  time  when  all  the  first  set 
of  teeth  have  appeared,  which  is  usually  at  the  end  of 
the  second  year.  During  this  period  the  child  normally 
suckles  its  mother. 

3.  Childhood,  which  terminates  when  the  second  denti- 
tion is  completed,  i.e.,  at  seven  or  eight  years  of  age. 

4.  The  period  of  Boyhood  or  Girlhood,  which  terminates 
at  puberty. 


48  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

5.  The  ijeriod  of  Adolescence,  i.e.,  between  puberty  and 
tlie  full  development  of  manliood  or  Nvomanliood. 

6.  The  period  of  mature  Manhood  or  Womanhood,  which 
lasts  more  or  less  indefinitely-  until 

7.  Old  Age,  which  is  the  declining  j^ortion  of  life. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  periods  are  characterized  by  an  active 
sex-life,  wdth  a  formal  distinction  of  gender,  while  the  first, 
second,  third,  fourth  and  seventh  periods  are  expressive 
of  a  passive  existence  w'hich,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
is  neuter. 

Puberty. 

If  we  empirically  di\ide  life  into  epochs  of  ten  years,  the 
second  decade  is  by  far  tlie  most  important  in  the  formation 
of  the  mental,  moral,  and  phj'sical  qualities,  early  iu  which 
period  puberty,  or  the  development  of  the  reproductive 
powers,  comes  on.  From  this  time  on,  until  these  func- 
tions wane,  sexual  desire  is  a  physiological  appetite, 
though  it  is  not  fully  felt  until  sexual  maturity,  when  ado- 
lescence has  passed. 

Puberty  occurs  a  year  or  two  later  in  the  male  than  in 
the  female.  Climate,  race,  vigor  of  constitution,  heredity 
and  social  conditions  have  a  marked  influence  on  the  i^eriod 
of  life  at  which  the  earliest  active  manifestations  of  sex  ap- 
pear. Thus  it  occurs  earlier  in  warm  countries  and  in  the 
class  of  society  ^^•hich  lives  luxuriously  than  in  cold  coun- 
tries and  among  the  poorer  classes. 

In  temperate  climates  a  girl  arrives  at  puberty  at  about 
the  thirteenth,  fourteenth,  or  fifteenth  3- ear;  while  in  the 
frigid  zones  it  is  delayed  until  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth, 
or  even  twentieth  year ;  and  in  the  torrid  zones  it  comes  on 
as  early  as  the  twelfth  or  thirteenth  year,  and  sometimes 
even  as  early  as  the  eighth  year.'  Climate  has,  of  course, 
the  same  influence  on  the  precocity  of  boys  as  it  has  on 
that  of  girls. 

'  Vide  Landois  and  Stirling's  "Physiology,"  p.  113. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF  THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  49 

Eace  plays  an  imi)ortaut  part ;  tlius  Jewesses,  who  belong 
to  an  unmixed  people,  menstruate  at  about  the  same  age  in 
all  latitudes,  i.e.,  at  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  Com- 
mingling of  races  develops  a  mean;  thus  Eurasians,  or 
Anglo-Indians,  i.e.,  half-castes  with  European  fathers  and 
Hindoo  mothers,  arrive  at  puberty  earlier  than  pure  Euro- 
peans and  later  than  pure  Hindoos. 

Heredity  does  much  to  influence  the  age  at  which  pubes- 
cence is  reached ;  thus,  some  families  are  notabh^  precocious 
or  notabh^  tard^^  in  develoi:)ment. 

The  state  of  the  general  health  exerts  a  powerful  influ- 
ence ;  thus,  if  a  child  is  suffering  with  anj^  wasting  or  de- 
bilitating disease,  or  if  pressed  too  hard  by  study,  puberty 
is  apt  to  be  retarded  and  disordered.  It  is  said  that  city- 
bred  children  arrive  at  i)uberty  about  a  year  earlier  than 
country  children. 

Until  about  the  age  of  pubertj-,  girls  and  boys  are  simply 
children,  who  in  innocence  play  unrestrictedly  together. 
The  girls  are  at  birth  a  little  smaller  than  the  boys,  but 
at  puberty  they  shoot  ahead  in  both  stature  and  weight, 
and  with  these  changes  in  the  body  are  associated  corre- 
sponding changes  in  the  mind,  habits  and  inclinations, 
which  are  the  signs  of  an  earlier  maturity  in  them.  Until 
this  change  occurs  there  are  no  notable  functional  or  psj^chi- 
cal  differences  between  the  sexes,  but  the  girls  and  boys 
associate  intimately  without  any  sensual  ideas  or  longings, 
with  their  voices  pitched  in  the  same  key,  and  with  no 
marked  dissimilarity  of  their  skeletal  structures. 

Heretofore  the  whole  energy  of  their  minds  and  bodies 
has  been  directed  toward  "acquisition,"  and  they  are  not 
"  productive"  in  either  thoughts  or  works.  In  each  other's 
presence  they  are  frank  and  simple,  and  are  without  any 
marked  feeling  of  modesty  or  coyness.  What  gallantry 
the  boy  shows  before  this  time  is  probably  due  to  his  edu- 
cation   rather   than  to  his   natural   tendencies,   and  what 

"blushing   timidity"  the  girl  displavs  is  also   more   the 
4 


50  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

result  of  external  influences  than  of  natural  promptings. 
Thougli  tlie  boy  is  naturally  more  boisterous,  and  tlie  girl 
more  bashful,  modest  and  shy,  yet  so  far  ihej  are  prac- 
tically generis  neutrius,  neither  male  nor  female,  without 
any  sexual  impressions,  and  they  have  hardly  entered 
within  the  portals  of  real  life. 

But  now  the  greatest  physiological  era  in  their  lives,  next 
to  that  of  birth,  is  about  to  raise  a  natural  barrier  between 
them,  and  send  them  along  well-defined  roads  diverging  to 
manhood  and  womanhood.  During  this  critical  j^eriod, 
when  life  is  yet  young,  they  are  initiated  into  new  loveSj 
new  emotions,  and  even  a  new  type  of  bod;/ ;  they  are  yet 
plastic,  and  good  or  evil  habits  are  more  likely  to  become 
fixed  upon  them  now,  and  in  the  next  few  succeeding  years, 
than  at  any  other  time  in  their  lives.  From  now  on  the 
similarity  between  the  sexes  rapidly  disappears ;  their  un- 
differentiated sexual  characteristics  become  strongly  mas- 
culine or  strongly  feminine,  and  the  psychical  differences 
are  even  more  distinctly  developed  than  the  bodily 
changes.  These  contrasts  between  the  sexes  come  on 
gradually,  and  several  years  of  adolescence  are  required 
before  the  sexual  types  of  body  are  clearly  defined,  while 
even  a  longer  time  is  expended  in  the  evolution  of  the  mas- 
culine and  feminine  types  of  intellect." 

It  is  well  recognized  that  this  is  a  critical  jjeriod,  during 
which  the  hereditary  influences  for  health  or  disease,  for 
good  or  bad  tendencies,  for  insanity  or  mental  equilibrium, 
are  most  felt,  and  at  this  time  esi)ecially,  as  Clouston  says, 
"a  man  may  fall  a  victim  to  his  grandfather's  excesses." 

The  change  in  the  female  is  more  profound  than  in  the 
male,  and  the  bodih"  disturbance  of  greater  intensity ;  so 
much  so,  that  few  girls  pass  through  this  period  without 

'  "Male  and  female  children  resemble  each  other  closely,  like  the 
young  of  so  many  other  animals  in  which  the  adult  sexes  differ 
widely  ;  they  likewise  resemble  the  mature  female  much  more  closely 
than  the  mature  male. " — Darwin,  "  Descent  of  Man, "  p.  557. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF  THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  51 

marked  constitutional  derangements,  or  some  of  tlie  multi- 
form types  of  hysteria.  Woman  plays  tlie  more  important 
sexual  role  in  Nature,  being  more  complex  in  physical 
structure,  as  well  as  in  mental  and  moral  organization. 
She  conceives,  gives  birth  to,  and  rears  every  individual, 
while  man  is  very  much  less  concerned  in  the  perpetuation 
of  the  race. 

A  woman's  faculties — physical,  moral  and  intellectual — ■ 
are  more  prof  oundh"  influenced  and  controlled  by  her  sexual 
functions  than  are  those  of  man,  she  being  by  far  more 
subservient  to  her  corjioreal  condition ;  and  there  are  few 
diseases  which  affect  her  without  having  a  recix)rocal  effect 
on  her  sexual  organs,  and  vice  versa.  Thus,  during  the 
thirty  years  of  her  rejjroductive  life,  or  distinctive  sex-life, 
the  utero-ovarian  functions  dominate  her  career,  and  both 
influence  and  are  influenced  by  every  vital  process. 

Compared  with  woman,  man's  reproductive  organs  have 
a  more  subordinate  effect  on  his  organization ;  and  yet, 
if  the  functions  of  these  are  abused,  his  life  may  be 
embittered  by  mental  and  physical  disorders  which  make 
him  a  fit  object  of  study  for  the  alienist  and  pathologist. 
AVe  must  consider  a  little  more  fully  the  distinctive  changes 
which  occur  in  the  bo}'  and  in  the  girl  with  the  accession 
of  puberty. 

Clianges  in  the  Male. — Before  x)ubert3^  the  boy  is  normally 
entirely  free  from  all  sexual  thoughts  or  impressions.  The 
small  and  ill-developed  penis  is  covered  with  an  elongated 
prepuce,  and  the  testicles  are  very  slightly  sensitive  to 
pressure.  But  at  puberty  there  is  a  determination  of 
blood  to  the  generative  organs,  so  that  the  penis,  testicles 
and  scrotum  enlarge,  and  semen,  with  its  accessor}^  fluids, 
is  secreted,  and  there  then  occurs  an  unmistakable  mani- 
festation of  the  sexual  instinct.  Not  infrequently  the 
mammary  glands  enlarge  at  the  time  of  puberty  and  be- 
come sensitive  to  the  pressure  of  the  clothing,  and  in  rare 
cases  they  secrete  milk.     The  voice  is  characteristically 


52  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

altered,  so  that  tlie  "  thin,  childish  treble  becomes  a  deep, 
manly  bass" ;  this  is  dne  to  the  growth  of  the  thyroid  car- 
tilage ("Adam's  apple"),  which  becomes  prominent,  and  to 
the  lengthening  of  the  vocal  chords,  so  that  the  voice  be- 
comes hoarse,  or  husky,  and  "  breaks"  until  it  falls  a  full 
octave  in  its  register. 

A  coarser  hair  takes  the  place  of  the  "  down"  on  the 
pubes,  face,  chest,  arms,  legs,  axillae  and  other  parts  of 
the  body,  and  the  sebaceous  glands  develojj  and  become 
active,  especially  on  the  nose,  back  and  face. 

These  clianges  succeed  one  another  so  slowly  that  full 
sexual  vigor  is  not  attained  until  adolescence  has  passed. 
From  puberty  onward,  all  through  the  sexual  life,  sper- 
matozoa are  constantly  being  formed  in  the  testicles,  and 
emissions  of  semen  occur  i)hysiologically  from  time  to 
time.  Gradually  the  tyi^e  of  mind  and  body  assumes  the 
mauh-  features,  and  at  twentj^-five  years  of  age  the  male 
may  be  considered  as  sexually  mature. 

Changes  in  the  Female. — The  transition  from  girlhood  to 
womanhood  occurs  with  a  bound,  so  that  the  female  under- 
goes the  sexual  alteration  several  years  before  the  male. 
In  her  the  changes  in  the  bodily  structure  and  in  the  func- 
tions of  the  M'hole  sj'stem  are  vasth'-  more  complex  and 
important. 

Vascularization,  or  the  increase  of  blood  supply  to  her 
internal  and  external  generative  organs,  is  of  course  more 
abundant  and  lavish  than  in  the  male,  because  of  the  greater 
area  to  be  supplied  and  the  greater  importance  of  the  func- 
tions of  the  uterus,  Fallopian  tubes,  ovaries  and  breasts. 
At  this  time  the  skeleton  and  contour  of  the  body  become 
modified  and  assume  the  characteristic  feminine  appear- 
ance. The  hips  become  broader  for  the  requirements  of 
childbirth ;  the  breasts  notably  increase  in  size  and  become 
prepared  to  secrete  milk ;  the  sebaceous  glands  become  more 
active,  as  in  the  bo}^ ;  coarse  hair  grows  over  the  pubes  and 
in  the  axillae ;  the  chest  increases  rapidl}^  in  size,  with  a  cor- 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  53 

responding  increase  of  vital  capacity ;  the  larynx  becomes 
elongated,  and  there  is  an  increased  comj)ass  of  voice, 
though  it  is  not  lowered  in  its  register,  nor  does  it 
"  break"  as  in  the  boy,  but  becomes  more  liquid,  musical, 
tender  and  gentle.  She  becomes  more  shy  before  the 
opposite  sex,  her  romping  tendency  is  subdued,  and  her 
whole  "  form  and  expression  assume  the  characteristic  sex- 
ual appearance,  while  the  psychical  energies  also  receive  an 
impulse."  ' 

The  most  important  occurrence  of  all,  however,  is  the 
periodical  occurrence  of  menstruation,  whose  most  marked 
phenomenon  is  a  sanguineous  discharge  from  the  genitals, 
normally  occurring  at  intervals  of  a  lunar  month— twenty- 
eight  days. 

This  menstruation  signifies  that  the  woman  is  capable  of 
reproduction  or  child-bearing.  Beginning,  on  the  average, 
soon  after  fourteen  years  of  age,  it  continues  until  the 
"change  of  life,"  or  "menopause,"  or  "climacteric,"  i.e., 
until  about  forty -four  years  of  age,  and  it  is,  in  health,  in- 
terrupted only  by  pregnane}'  and  lactation  (suckling).' 

If  menstruation  begin  earlier  it  ends  earlier,  and  vice 
versa,  so  that  the  child-bearing  period  of  a  woman's  life, 
or  her  distinctive  sex-life,  lasts  about  thirty  years,  though 
in  hot  countries  it  is  shorter. 

Each  woman  usually  has  a  definite  periodicity  in  her 
menstruation,  the  common  interval  from  the  beginning  of 
one  menstrual  period  to  the  beginning  of  the  next  being 
the  "twenty-eight-day  type,"  though  some  menstruate 
every  thirty  days,  a  few  every  twenty -one  days,  and  fewer 
still  every  twenty-seven  days.  When  a  girl  starts  to  men- 
struate there  is  complete  uncertainty  as  to  what  the  type 
will  be,  though  when  once  fully  established  it  remains 
pretty  constant. 

The  amount  of  blood  lost  averages  from  six  to  eight 

'  Landois  and  Stirling's  "  Pliysiology, "  p.  113. 
•  Vide  Hart  and  Barbour's  "  Gynsecology . " 


54  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

ounces,  tliougli  sometimes  it  may  normally  be  onlj"  two 
or  three  ounces,  or  sometimes  twelve  or  fourteen  ounces. 
The  discharge  usually  lasts  from  two  to  six  days,  and  is 
usually  more  profuse  in  blondes  than  in  brunettes. 

Menstruation  is  by  no  means  merely  a  monthly  flow  of 
blood  from  the  genitals.  As  Matthews  Duncan  of  Edin- 
burgh well  said,  "The  red  flag  at  the  auctioneer's  door 
shows  that  something  more  imj)ortant  is  going  on  inside." 
And  so  also  the  flow  of  blood  proves  to  be  but  an  incident 
of  menstruation,  and  not  at  all  the  important  factor — ovu- 
lation, or  the  formation  of  eggs,  being  the  peculiar  and 
interesting  event. 

In  viviparous  animals  there  is  a  condition  similar  to  that 
of  menstruation  in  women,  but  in  them  it  is  called  the 
"heat"  ("rutting"  in  deer).  Usually  this  season  of 
"heat"  in  animals  occurs  but  once  a  year,  and  at  other 
times  the  females  neither  admit  the  males,  nor  could  they 
become  pregnant  if  they  did.  Domestication  M'itli  its  arti- 
ficialities of  diet  and  tr^mperature  has  made  the  recurrence 
of  this  i)henomenon  uncertain  in  some  of  our  animals.' 

'  "  Every  month  or  season  of  the  year  is  the  pairing  season  of  one 
or  another  mammalian  species.  But  notwithstanding  this  apparent 
irrregularity,  the  pairing-time  of  every  species  is  bound  by  an  un- 
failing law  :  it  sets  in  earlier  or  later,  according  as  the  period  of  ges- 
tation lasts  longer  or  shorter,  so  that  the  young  may  be  born  at  the 
time  when  they  are  most  likelj'  to  survive.  .  .  .  Thus,  the  bat  pairs 
in  January  and  Februarj- ;  the  wild  camel  in  the  desert  to  the  east 
of  Lake  Lob-nor,  from  the  middle  of  January  nearly  to  the  end  of 
February ;  the  canis  Azarce  and  the  Indian  bison  in  winter ;  the 
wildcat  and  the  fox,  in  February  ;  the  weazel,  in  March  ;  the  kulan, 
from  Maj^  to  July  ;  the  musk-ox,  at  the  end  of  August,  and,  in 
Asiatic  Russia,  in  September  or  October ;  the  wild  yak  in  Thibet, 
in  September ;  the  reindeer  in  Norway,  at  the  end  of  September ; 
the  badger,  in  October ;  tlie  Capra  pyrenuica,  in  November ;  the 
chamois,  the  musk-deer,  and  the  orongo-antelope,  in  November  and 
December ;  the  wolf,  from  the  end  of  December  to  the  middle  of 
Februarj'." — Westermarck,  "History  of  Human  Marriage,"  pp. 
25,  26. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  55 

A  woman  when  slie  is  menstruating  cannot  be  said  to 
have  a  "mens  sana  in  corpore  sano,"  and  is  thus  physically 
unfitted  for  the  active  i)ursuits  followed  by  men.  Before 
menstruation  begins  there  is  a  feeling  of  mental  irritation 
and  lassitude,  fatigue  in  the  lower  limbs,  congestion  in  the 
back,  loins  and  lower  abdominal  region,  sensitiveness  on 
pressure  over  the  abdomen,  feelings  of  heat  and  cold,  dis- 
orders of  appetite  and  digestion,  and  various  other  sys- 
temic disturbances.' 

The  i)rincipal  event  in  menstruation  is  the  maturation 
and  rui:)ture  of  a  Graafian  follicle,  the  discharge  of  an 
ovum,  or  egg,  from  one  of  the  ovaries,  and  its  passage 
along  one  of  the  Fallopian  tubes  to  the  cavity  of  the  uterus. 
If  the  ovum  is  fertilized  by  the  male  reproductive  element, 
or  spermatozoid,  it  finds  lodgment  in  the  uterus  and  de- 
velops into  a  foetus ;  if  not  fertilized,  it  passes  off  unnoticed 
in  the  menstrual  discharge. 

A  woman  is  more  liable  to  conceive  immediately  after 
her  menstrual  period  has  iiassed ;  but  it  is  most  imj^ortant 
to  remember  that  conception  may  occur  at  any  time  during 
the  thirty  years  of  her  menstrual  life,  and  that  fornication 
can  never  be  indulged  in  without  the  risk  of  impregnation. 

Each  "monthly  sickness"  is  in  reality  a  sort  of  mimic 
parturition  or  missed  pregnancy ;  childbirth  being  physi- 
ologically tlie  aim  and  object  of  a  Avoman's  life,  for  which, 
though  it  may  not  be  accomplished.  Nature  is  nevertheless 
constantly  striving.  The  sexual  impress  is  thus  seen  to  be 
stamped  upon  womankind  as  a  much  more  powerful  factor 
in  their  lives  than  in  men's,  though  we  must  be  careful  to 
avoid  confusing  the  word  "sexual"  with  "sensual." 

'  "While  a  man  may  be  said,  at  all  events  relatively,  to  live  on  a 
plane,  a  vi^oman  always  lives  on  the  upward  or  downward  slope  of  a 
curve.  This  is  a  fact  of  tlie  very  first  importance  in  the  study  of 
physiological  or  psychological  phenomena  in  women.  Unless  we 
always  bear  it  in  mind  we  cannot  attain  to  any  true  knowledge  of 
the  physical,  mental,  or  moral  life  of  women.  " — Havelock  Ellis, 
"Man  and  Woman,"  p.  248. 


B6  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

To  bear  in  mind  tlie  tender  graces  of  women,  their  beauty 
and  delicacy-,  their  susceptible  and  responsive  mental  na- 
tures, their  trustful  and  confiding  love,  their  mission  of 
motherhood  with  the  subsequent  rearing  of  the  children, 
their  heavenly  influence  over  our  lives,  their  unfitness  to 
meet  us  on  a  common  level  in  the  battle  of  life,  mui-t 
influence  every  warm-hearted  man  to  ever  treat  them 
with  chivalry  and  veneration,  to  protect  their  honor,  and 
to  oppose  their  degradation  and  downfall  with  all  his 
power. 

The   Influence  of  the    Keproductiye    Glands   on  the 

Physical  and  Psychical  Development  of  the 

Individual. 

As  a  proof  that  it  is  the  sexual  organs  whose  growth  and 
development  produce  the  most  i:)rofound  dynamic  changes 
in  the  physical  and  mental  qualities  of  males  and  females, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  those  cases  in  which  either 
the  ovaries  or  testicles  have  been  early  removed,  or  where 
they  have  been  congenitally  deficient,  or  vitiated  in  their 
functions  before  maturity ;  in  which  case  the  sex  of  the  in- 
dividual becomes  so  distorted  that  it  tends  to  assume  the 
physical  and  psychical  type  of  the  opposite  sex.  Castra- 
tion or  premature  senility  in  girls  gives  them  a  masculine 
quality  of  voice,  and — while  afiixing  to  them  man}'  of  the 
coarser  male  characteristics — deprives  them  of  the  typical 
feminine  attributes.  Similarlj^  if  an  undeveloped  male  is 
emasculated  the  secondary  sexual  characteristics  fail  to 
api)ear,  so  that  he  does  not  displaj^  the  superior  size  and 
muscular  development,  the  depth  of  chest,  the  pugnacity,  or 
courage,  or  ruggedness  which  the  virile  man  does.  Famil- 
iar to  us  all  are  the  mental  and  physical  differences  which 
exist  between  the  youth  and  the  old  man;  the  girl  and  the 
woman  who  has  passed  the  "change  of  life";  the  potent 
and  impotent  man;  the  castrated  man  and  the  man  in  pos- 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  57 

session  of  liis  testicles;  the  bull  and  tlie  steer;  the  gelding 
and  the  stallion,  etc.  etc. 

With  the  precocious  development  of  the  testicles  in  boys 
—i.e.,  earlier  than  the  usual  time  of  puberty— there  is  a 
rapid  growth  of  body  to  the  manly  type,  with  hair  on  the 
pubes  and  face,  roughness  of  voice,  and  unusual  stature; 
while,  on  the  contrary,  eunuchs  are  natural  slaves  and 
cowards,  unsuited  for  the  pursuit  of  war,  unfitted  to  be  the 
guardians  of  undegraded  women,  and  weak  in  every  element 
of  their  moral  natures. 

At  his  master's  bidding  the  eunuch  unfeeliugly  executes 
the  harshest  punishments  on  others,  being  without  mercy 
or  consideration,  and  utterly  lacking  the  finer  sensibilities 
of  either  the  masculine  or  feminine  type.' 

The  eunuch,  as  seen  in  Constantinople  for  instance,  is  at 

'  "Pope Clement  XIV.,  in  the  eighteenth  century,  abolished  castra- 
tion of  youths,  wliich  was  then  practiseil  in  Italy  for  the  purpose  of 
retaining  the  soprano  voice.  It  is  well  known  that  the  castrated 
preserve  the  shrill  voice  {voix  aigue)  of  infancy,  at  the  same  time 
that  the  chest  becomes  fully  developed,  thus  giving  volume  to  the 
voice.  Women  were  not  allowed  to  sing  in  the  cathedral  or  church 
services  ;  hence  this  horrid  mutilation,  as  it  qualified  the  victims  to 
sing  soprano  parts. " — Acton  on  the  Reproductive  Organs,  p.  219. 

"In  castrated  persons,  however,  the  larynx  remains  puerile,  al- 
though perhaps  slightly  larger  than  in  women.  The  old  Italian  cus- 
tom of  castrating  boys  to  preserve  their  youthful  singing  voices 
bears  witness  to  the  close  connection  between  the  voice  and  the  or- 
gans of  sex.  Delaunay  remarks  that  while  a  bass  need  not  fear  any 
kind  of  sexual  or  other  excess  so  far  as  his  voice  is  concerned,  a  tenor 
must  be  extremely  careful  and  temperate.  Among  prostitutes,  it 
may  be  added,  the  evolution  of  the  voice  and  of  the  larynx  tends  to 
take  a  masculine  direction.  This  fact,  which  is  faiily  obvious,  has 
been  accurately  investigated  at  Genoa  by  Professor  Masini,  who  finds 
that  among  50  prostitutes  29  showed  in  a  high  degree  the  deep 
masculine  voice,  while  the  larynx  was  large  and  the  vocal  chords 
resembled  those  of  man ;  only  6  out  of  the  50  showed  a  normal 
larynx  ;  while  of  20  presumably  honest  women,  only  2  showed  the 
ample  masculine  larynx." — Havelock  Ellis,  "Man  and  Woman," 
p.  237. 


58  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

once  recognizable  by  liis  i>eculiarities,  wliicli  may  be  briefly 
summarized  as  follows :  be  is  taller  tlian  the  average  man, 
though  not  powerful;  his  countenance  is  distinctive;  the 
chest  is  narrow ;  the  hips  are  broad ;  the  gait  is  peculiar, 
owing  to  the  feminine  tendencj^  to  knock-knee ;  the  voice  is 
shrill,  inclining  to  falsetto,  and  about  an  octave  above  the 
masculine  register ;  the  face  and  pubes  are  almost  devoid 
of  hair;  the  skin  is  delicate;  the  penis  is  small  and 
shrivelled,  and  the  disposition  is  harsh,  unmerciful,  and 
servile.  They  age  rapidly,  and  then  become  thin  and  ter- 
ribly wrinkled. 

On  the  other  hand,  among  certain  women,  especially  pros- 
titutes, whose  sexual  glands  have  been  destroyed  or  much 
damaged  by  disease,  it  is  not  rare  to  find  real  viragoes, 
i.e.,  women  who  have  the  masculine  physique,  voice, 
strength,  qualit}^  of  mind,  pugnacity,  etc. 

Thus  we  see  that  comj^lete  or  partial  deficiency  in  the 
generative  functions  brings  about  a  strong  resemblance  to 
the  characteristic  type  of  the  opposite  sex,  and  invariably 
in  a  manner  which  excites  disgust  and  contempt. 

The  same  peculiarities  which  are  observable  in  castrated 
animals  apph^  to  evirated  men,  making  them  deficient  in 
virile  sports  and  occupations,  lazj',  good-for-nothing  indi- 
viduals contented  with  their  lot,  utterly  indifferent  to  the 
society  of  the  opposite  sex,  of  no  force  morally  or  mentally, 
and  of  course  lacking  the  intelligence  to  be  discontented 
with  their  doom. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  none  of  our  functions  should  be 
more  carefully  conserved  than  those  of  the  generic  sphere, 
for,  irrespective  of  complete  effemination  or  eviration,  any 
impairment  or  vitiation,  or  loss  of  power,  or  excess  of  ac- 
tivity in  them,  unquestionably  produces  a  most  profound 
effect  on  the  physical  and  cerebral  processes,  invariably  in 
a  fearfully  undesirable  manner. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  59 


The  Cake  of  the  Pubescent  Chhj). 

To  understand  the  changes  which  occur  at  puberty  and 
the  tendencies  inherent  in  the  young  of  both  sexes  at  this 
period  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  though  few  practical 
subjects  are  so  much  neglected  by  parents,  teachers  and 
physicians  as  the  deportment  of  children  at  the  most  im- 
pressionable ejioch  of  their  lives. 

At  puberty  the  child's  imagination  is  certain  to  become 
active;  and  peculiar  emotions  and  susceptibilities  arise 
which  tend  to  draw  it  toward  evil.  Lacking  at  this  early 
age  the  balance-wheel  of  reflection  to  control  it,  the  child, 
unless  carefully  instructed,  is  in  no  little  danger  of  falling 
a  victim  to  the  teachings  of  evil  companions  and  many 
other  deleterious  influences. 

So  when  a  youth  arrives  at  j^uberty,  unless  he  have  a 
pow^erful  moral  mentor  in  his  conscience,  his  thoughts 
naturally  tend  to  lead  him  to  sensual  vices,  than  which 
nothing  is  more  degrading  and  brutalizing. 

The  older  we  grow  the  more  we  must  realize  how  impor- 
tant it  is  to  start  out  aright,  and  to  be  prudent  when  one 
is  yet  young;  for  when  a  person  is  matured,  and  perhaps 
acclimatized  to  a  corrupting  environment,  it  can  hardly 
ever  be  expected  that  he  shall  materially  alter  either  in  his 
manner  of  life  or  ideas.  To  preach  wisdom  to  the  old— 
perhaps  the  prematurely  old— is  almost  a  thankless  task; 
it  may  convince  them,  but  life-long  habits  are  hard  to 
change.  Therefore  the  great  aim  should  be  to  educate  the 
individual  when  he  is  yet  young. 

For  children  of  these  tender  years  to  listen  very  keenly 
to  the  appeals  of  morality  merely  for  morality's  sake  is 
exceptional,  though  an  immense  influence  can  be  exercised 
by  telling  them  that  it  is  base  and  degrading  to  tamper 
with  their  private  parts  in  any  way  whatsoever,  and  that 
the  sin  of  disobeying  this  injunction  will  surely  betray 


60  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

itself  in  their  faces  and  manners,  and  prevent  their  full 
development  into  a  splendid  manhood. 

At  puberty  a  marked  physiological  thrill  is  imparted  to 
the  child;  and  no  person,  however  prudish,  can  deny  that 
sexuality  is  the  factor  which  gives  origin  to  feelings, 
emotions  and  imaginations  which  display  themselves  in 
characteristic  fashion  in  persons  of  either  sex,  usually  to 
a  hyperbolic  degree.  "This  awakening  into  intense 
activity  of  such  vast  tracts  of  encei)halic  tissue  [brain 
tissue],  though  provided  for  in  the  evolution  of  the  organ, 
does  not  take  x>lace  without  much  risk  of  disturbance  to 
its  [the  child's]  mental  functions,  especially  where  there 
is  an  inherited  jn-edisposition  in  that  direction."  ' 

We  must  especially  bear  in  mind  that,  as  Clouston  says, 
new  areas  of  brain  tissue — "  vast  tracts"  of  it — are  called 
into  activity  at  the  time  of  pubertj-,  and  that  vitiation  in 
the  genital  zone  necessarily  results  in  physical  and  ethical 
defect  in  the  cerebral  structures  and  functions.  Every 
fibre  in  the  bod}^  feels  and  shows  the  impulse  of  the 
change;  and  so  great  is  the  disturbance  sometimes,  when 
young  peojile  are  attaining  their  sexual  ecjuipment,  that 
a  well-marked  "insanit\'  of  pubescence,"  or  Hebephrenia, 
is  recognized.  This  disturbance  of  the  functions  of  the 
brain  is  usualh-  depressing  in  character,  often  assuming  a 
suicidal  tendency,  or  sometimes  giving  an  erotic  coloring 
to  life.' 

'  T.  S.  Clouston,  M.D.,  F.R.C.P.,  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal, 
1880-81,  p.  5. 

2  "Puberty  being  a  travail  of  transition  during  which  new  sensa- 
tions, new  emotions,  new  ideas  spring  up,  it  is  inevitably  attended 
with  some  disturbance  of  the  mental  equilibrium,  and  sometirnes, 
where  that  is  imstable  because  of  an  hereditary  strain  of  weakness, 
witli  a  complete  overthrow  of  it.  The  new-coming  feelings  and 
impulses  have  to  find  and  make  their  adjustments  within  and  with- 
out, and  until  they  have  done  that  they  occasion  much  subjective 
unrest  of  a  vague,  yearning  kind— blind  longings  and  cravings, 
undefined  aspirations,  tremulous  pantings  for  the  unknown,  large 


PHYSIOLOGY    OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  61 

In  those  very  frequent  cases  of  pubescent  insanity  wliicli 
are  accompanied  by  masturbation  we  must  recognize  that 
the  self-abuse  is  often  as  much  a  symptom  as  a  cause  of 
the  insanity.  Some  chiklren  get  to  be  "pitiful  mind 
wrecks"  at  this  period  of  life,  partly  through  their  own 
errors,  partly  on  account  of  their  vicious  hereditary  ten- 
dencies, and  very  largely  on  account  of  the  lack  of  a  proper 
education  which  would  teach  them  self-control.  But  in 
ever3'  pubescent  child,  a  certain  derangement  of  the  emo- 
tions and  disquiet  of  mind  may  be  confidently  looked  for. 

In  addition  to  the  mental  disturbances,  many  of  the  bodily 
ailments  which  afflict  a  child  are  in  reality  nothing  but  the 
accompaniments  of  puberty.  This  is  more  commonly  true 
in  relation  to  the  female  sex,  because  the  girl  suddenly 
blossoms  into  a  woman,  the  change  transforming  her  whole 
nature  in  a  short  period  of  time,  and  because  the  feminine 
reproductive  functions  are  vastly  more  pervasive  in  their 
physical  influence  on  woman  in  proportion  to  her  more  im- 
portant sexual  role  in  nature.  Periodicity  is  the  law  with 
women,  and  it  must  necessarily  disturb  the  equilibrium 
of  their  systems  once  every  lunar  mouth,  unless  they  are 
pregnant  or  suckling ;  and  any  irregularity  or  sujjpression 
of  this  function,  instead  of  being  a  relief,  is  a  marked  and 
sure  cause  of  systemic  derangement. 

In  growing  children  of  both  sexes,  at  about  the  age  of 
pubert}^  not  only  is  the  blood  richer  in  the  elements  of  fibrin 
and  red  blood-corpuscles,  but  the  circulation  is  also  more 
vigorous,  so  that  there  are  apt  to  be  congestions  of  various 
organs,  relief  from  which  is  afl^orded  by  the  familiar  nose- 
bleeds of  children.     These  nose-bleeds  are  more  common 

and  vague  enthusiasms,  accompanied  by  a  dreamy  sadness,  a  brood- 
ing want,  a  not  altogetherimpleasing  melancholy.  The  thrill  of  the 
infinite  in  the  individual  has  somehow  to  make  its  accommodations 
to  the  finite.  So  it  comes  to  pass  that  out  of  the  dim,  formless 
yearnings  there  spring  up  ideal  forms  in  the  domain  of  love  or 
religion." — Henry  Maudsley,  "Pathology  of  the  Mind,"  p.  387. 


62  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

in  boys,  for  menstruatiuu  more  or  less  takes  its  place  in 
girls ;  but  if  this  plieuomenou  fails  to  operate  in  tlie  latter, 
there  is  then  not  infrequently  a  "vicarious  menstruation," 
i.e.,  relief  is  afforded  by  hemorrhages  from  other  organs — 
for  instance,  from  the  lungs,  stomach,  bowels,  nose,  etc. 

In  normal  children,  as  j^reviouslj'  observed,  there  is 
before  puberty  an  entire  freedom  from  any  ideas  about 
sexual  affairs ;  but  it  is  a  well-known  fact,  based  on  obser- 
vation, that  many  very  joung  children  take  to  handling 
of  the  genitals  with  very  apparent  satisfaction  of  some 
sort.  Nurses  frequently  have  a  most  pernicious  custom  of 
quieting  children  by  manii)ulation  of  their  genitals;  and 
thus,  perliai)S  several  years  before  j^uberty,  the  little  ones 
get  into  the  habit  of  practising  auto-stimulation  without 
^  in  the  least  appreciating  its  moral  or  physical  wickedness. 

Others  are  led  to  masturbation  by  some  local  irritation ; 
as  from  a  too  long  or  too  tight  foreskin,  worms  in  the  rec- 
tum, hiemorrhoids,  fissure  of  the  anus,  intolerable  itching 
about  the  anus  or  vulva,  accumulation  of  a  cheesy  sub- 
stance—-smegma- — beneath  the  foreskin,  or,  in  short,  by  any 
cause  which  produces  congestion  or  inflammation  in  the 
genital  zone.  To  prevent  attention  to  these  parts  it  is 
often  necessary  for  the  physician  to  obviate  any  abnormal 
conditions  which  may  be  present  in  children  of  either  sex, 
e.g.,  to  relieve  constipation,  to  allay  the  intense  itching, 
to  dislodge  the  worms  from  the  rectum,  and,  in  the  case  of 
boys,  to  x'l'fictise  circumcision.  With  an}-  line  of  treatment 
the  child  must  in  addition  be  early  taught  self-mastery  and 
self-reliance. 

The  time  of  puberty  and  the  next  few  succeeding  years 
are  supereminently  important  as  constituting  the  formative 
and  critical  period  of  life ;  for  habits  and  the  general  trend 
of  the  mind  get  their  motif  then,  and  the  individual  hardly 
ever  materially  changes  thereafter,  at  least  in  his  tendencies 
and  sexual  enthusiasms.  The  sensations  which  are  experi- 
enced at  this  time  compel  the  attention  of  the  mind ;  and 


PHYSIOLOGY  OF  THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  63 

tliougli  tliey  may  at  first  be  vague  and  iudefinite,  yet  be- 
fore long  the  new  influence  of  the  reproductive  energy 
promotes  unmistakable  feelings  which,  unless  controlled, 
may  lead  to  various  forms  of  illicit  gratification. 

Teachers  and  i)areuts,  culpably  ignorant  themselves,  too 
often  treat  children  as  though  they  had  no  sexual  organs  at 
all;  being  all  too  content  if  they  advance  well  in  their 
studies.  But  assuredly  they  practise  the  most  pernicious 
prudery  by  not  looking  for  and  anticipating  those  influences 
which  so  often  lead  pubescent  young  people  astray  to  the 
ruin  of  their  bodies  and  characters.  Evil  practices  are 
exceedingly^  apt  to  be  learned  if  these  matters  are  left  to 
Nature  and  to  the  child's  companions  for  settlement;  for 
in  most  schools  masturbation  and  other  forms  of  vice  are 
actually  cultivated  by  that  portion  of  the  scholars  who  are 
viciously  inclined,  and  who,  unfortunately,  do  the  most 
talking. 

Through  inheritance  some  children  are  congenitallj-  lack- 
ing in  ethical  ideas,  and  for  such  the  wisest  educational 
measures  are  urgently  called  for.  Self-control  is  what  the 
child  needs  to  be  taught,  for  by  yielding  to  impulse  and 
vice  the  very  structure  of  the  brain  eventually  becomes 
altered.  In  fact,  many  an  insane  patient  is  where  he  is 
because  of  yielding  to  his  fancies,  and  is  thus  directly  re- 
sponsible for  his  condition.  Every  individual  naturally  has 
good  and  bad  instincts,  and  the  sexual  passion  often  gives 
a  coloring  especially  to  those  which  are  evil.  All  these 
vicious  tendencies  act  more  powerfully  in  perversely  in- 
clined children,  partly  because  their  self-control  is  weaker, 
and  partly  because  they  have  abused  their  sexual  natures, 
while  perverse  heredity  is  very  probably  also  operating  in 
them.  Very  plainly,  then,  the  parent  or  teacher  who  fails 
to  realize  that  some  of  the  children  have  sexual  natures 
inclining  to  perversity  makes  almost  a  criminal  error ;  and 
in  view  of  this  his  position  should  always  be  one  of  watch- 
ful expectancy.     To  leave  a  child  to  find  out  the  secrets  of 


64  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

his  sexual  nature  uuaicled  is  the  gravest  and  most  cruel 
mistake.  If  this  be  left  to  accident,  or  if  the  child  be 
abandoned  to  the  false  teachings  of  his  wicked  school- 
mates, then  onanism  with  all  its  injurious  effects  is  almost 
sure  to  follow ;  and  the  wrong  information  which  he  may 
have  received,  or  the  erroneous  conclusions  which  he  may 
have  conceived,  may  direct  him  into  the  most  darksome 
XJaths  and  to  irreparable  injury. 

Children  are  notoriously  imitative  and  peculiarly  sus- 
cej^tible  to  the  force  of  example,  and  consequently  the 
greatest  care  should  be  taken  to  help  them  to  form  good 
associations.  The  bo^s  must  be  watched  for  evidences  of 
a  tendency  to  effeminacy,  or  a  fondness  for  girlish  games, 
and  the  girls  must  be  influenced  against  too  great  an  en- 
thusiasm for  boyish  sports  and  the  danger  of  being  "  tom- 
boy s."  Above  all,  the  boys  and  girls  must  be  encouraged 
to  exercise  sociability  and  to  mix  freely  with  the  opposite 
sex. 

We  must  in  addition  recognize  at  the  time  of  puberty  a 
strong  and  peculiar  impressionability,  and  also  that  the 
early  sexual  excitations  and  lustful  sensations  are  apt  to 
imprint  a  lasting  influence  on  the  child's  mind — "impera- 
tive concepts."  The  imi^ressions  produced  by  the  inten- 
sity of  feeling  of  the  sexual  organisms  are  much  deeper  than 
most  other  impressions,  and  the  mental  images  then  pic- 
tured in  the  memory  maj%  and  probably  will,  excite  lustful 
feelings,  through  the  association  of  ideas,  when  they  are 
recalled,  suggested,  or  reproduced,  even  without  actual 
stimulation  of  the  sexual  areas. 

Most  mature  readers  will,  upon  due  reflection,  appre- 
ciate that  in  their  sexual  dream-life  their  imaginations  are 
tinctured  by  or  revolve  around  some  particular  concei)t,  or 
that  they  are  eroticall}^  responsive  to  some  pretty  regular 
and  ever-recurring  line  of  action. 

Furthermore,  most  men  are  enthusiastic,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  and  become  sexually  excited — in  their  dreams 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  65 

and  also  when  awake — about  some  iDarticular  feminine 
quality,  or  article  of  feminine  apparel,  or  peculiar  situa- 
tion; which  enthusiasm,  being  incornx^rehensible  to  other 
men,  is  a  personal  secret  that  is  carefully  kept  hidden. 
These  various  enthusiasms  or  mind-pictures,  each  of  which 
is  of  importance  only  to  the  particular  individual,  can 
usually  be  referred  back  for  their  origins  to  the  time  of 
puberty  when  the  special  concepts  were  closely  associated 
wdth  the  first  emissions  or  with  the  first  pleasurable  sexual 
feelings. 

Especially  bear  in  mind,  then,  that  the  first  strong  sexual 
impressions  which  are  felt  by  the  pubescent  child  are  apt 
to  become  burned  into  his  nature,  and  that  the  accessory 
factors  which  caused  the  lustful  feeling,  or  which  were 
prominently  connected  with  it,  are,  through  the  association 
of  ideas  and  reminiscences,  forever  after  liable  to  guide  his 
fancy  to  such  a  degree  that  a  visual  perception,  or  even  a 
recollection  of  the  same  concept  which  excited  him  origi- 
nally, will  excite  him  hereafter. 

To  recognize  that  these  tendencies  exist  is  to  be  fore- 
warned in  helloing  the  pubescent  child  to  gain  a  mastery 
over  impulses  which  might  develop  into  grave  perversions. 
Few  realize,  unless  their  attention  is  specially  called  to  it, 
how  deep  and  lasting  are  these  mental  associations  formed 
during  adolescence.  Without;  understanding  these  tenden- 
cies, men  go  throughout  life  blindly,  not  appreciating  their 
sexual  likes  and  dislikes,  or  their  motives,  or  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  mental  stains  from  which  those  suffer  who 
pollute  the  very  source  from  which  true  manhood  neces- 
sarily comes. 

The  Pelmaky  and  Secondary  Sexual  Characteristics. 

It  is  important  to  distinguish  certain  well-marked  sexual 

features  in  both  males  and  females  which  are  known  as  the 

Primary  and  Secondary  Sexual  Characters. 

A  man's  primary  sexual  characters  are  represented  by 
6 


66  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

liis  genital  organs,  and  centre  round  the  production  of  sper- 
matozoa and  the  function  of  impregnation;  a  woman's 
primary  sexual  characters  centre  round  her  genital  organs, 
the  production  of  ova,  and  the  development  and  birth  of 
the  foetus. 

The  Primary  Sexual  Characters  are,  of  course,  those  that 
pertain  to  the  sexual  organs  themselves  and  to  their  func- 
tions, and  naturally  they  are  the  most  pronounced  of  all  the 
sexual  attributes. 

As  accessories  to  these  leading  sexual  features  are  the 
Secondary  Sexual  Characters,  which  comprise  all  those  at- 
tributes of  hodj  and  mind  not  directly  related  to  the  sexual 
organs  proper,  but  which  nevertheless  are  distinctive  and 
constitute  notable  differences  between  the  sexes. 

As  Darwin  has  so  well  shown,  these  secondary  sexual 
characters  help  the  males  to  fight  for,  or  to  court  the  sexual 
favor  of  the  females ;  for  instance,  the  horns  of  the  stag  and 
the  spurs  of  the  cock  are  weapons  which  their  owners  use 
against  male  rivals  of  their  own  species,  and  the  strongest 
gains  the  consent  of  the  female,  who,  quietly  awaiting  the 
issue,  bestows  her  favors  on  the  victor.  So  also  the  func- 
tion of  the  lion's  mane  is  to  serve  partlj^  as  a  weapon  of 
defence  for  the  i:>rotection  of  his  neck,  but  chiefly  as  a  mark 
of  beauty  to  attract  the  female. 

Male  birds  usually  effect  their  conquests,  as  Darwin 
further  shows,'  by  peaceful  means,  such  as  the  melodious- 
ness of  their  singing  and  the  gaudiness  of  their  plumage ; 
e.g.,  the  canary  cock's  singing,  the  cock's  comb,  the  tail  of 
the  bird-of-paradise,  and  the  superior  brilliancy  of  all  male 
birds. 

The  secondary  sexual  characters  do  not  appear  in  ani- 
mals until  they  have  arrived  at  an  age  when  they  are  ca- 
pable of  reproduction;  and  as  a  rule  the  females  are  not 
gaudily  and  showily  equipped,  because  of  their  greater 
necessity  of  protection  from  beasts  of  prey.  At  the  rutting 
'"The  Descent  of  Man,"  "The  Origin  of  Species." 


PHYSIOLOGY   OP  THE   SEXUAL  LIFE.  67 

season,  when  tlie  sexual  vigor  is  at  its  maximum,  the  plu- 
mage is  gaudiest,  the  fur  the  handsomest,  the  horns  the 
largest,  the  voice  the  loudest,  the  scent-glands  the  most 
odoriferous,  and  all  the  sexual  characters  the  most  pro- 
nounced. "  Flowers  and  the  songs  of  birds  are  the  tokens 
of  the  reproductive  transport  of  nature, — flowers  being  the 
dress  of  love,  and  the  songs  of  birds  love-songs.  Men  find 
these  very  beautiful  in  themselves,  and  think  of  them  as 
specially  designed  to  gratify  their  senses.  But  is  it  not 
that  they  are  beautiful,  by  secret  sympathy  of  being,  be- 
cause they  are  expressions  of  the  generative  energy  of 
nature  in  which  men  share?  And  most  felt  of  beautiful  in 
spring,  when  the  sympathy  of  a  common  thrill  is  active."  ' 

Botanists  tell  us  that  cross-fertilization  is  necessary  for 
the  reproduction  of  i^lants,  they  having  separate  sexes  like 
the  animals.  Some  plants  are  wind-fertilized,  and  some 
are  visited  by  insects,  the  object  being  in  either  case  an 
assurance  that  the  pollen,  or  male  elements,  shall  be  car- 
ried, either  by  the  wind,  or  water,  or  insects,  from  the 
anthers  of  one  plant  to  the  stigma,  or  female  structure,  of 
another.  Flowers  which  are  dependent  on  the  agency  of 
the  wind  for  the  scattering  of  their  pollen  are  never  gajdy 
colored,  and  "beauty  serves  merely  as  a  guide  to  birds  and 
beasts,  in  order  that  the  fruit  may  be  devoured  and  the 
manured  seeds  disseminated."^ 

Animals  and  plants  have  not  been  created  beautiful  in 
order  to  delight  man,  but  for  sexual  reasons,  in  order  to 
compel  sexual  conjunction,  upon  which  the  future  of  every 
species  depends.^ 

>  Maudsley,  "  Pathology  of  the  Mind, "  p.  131. 

*  Darwin,  "Origin  of  Species,"  p.  161. 

3 "If  beautiful  objects  had  been  created  solely  for  man's  gratifica- 
tion, it  ought  to  be  shown  that  before  man  appeared  there  was  less 
beauty  on  the  face  of  the  earth  than  since  he  came  on  the  stage. 
Were  the  beautiful  volute  and  cone  shells  of  the  Eocene  epoch,  and 
the  gracefully  sculptured  ammonites  of  the  Secondary  period,  creat- 
ed that  man  might  ages  afterward   admire  them  in  his  cabinet? 


68  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

All  tlirougliout  the  organic  world  these  secondary  sexual 
characteristics  play  a  most  prominent  role;  and  the  same 
laws  of  course  govern  mankind,  because  zoologically  we  are 
of  that  world,  even  though  at  the  top  of  the  scale. 

In  man  we  of  course  note  as  secondary  sexual  characters 
the  greater  size  and  sti-ength  of  his  body,  his  beard,  the 
hair  on  his  chest,  arms  and  legs,  hia  rougher  voice,  his 
masterful  mind,  and  the  natural  aggressiveness  in  his 
wooing;  while  we  note  the  superior  grace  and  delicacy  of 
a  woman's  every  movement,  her  gentler  and  more  musical 
voice,  her  crown  of  superabundant  hair,  her  prominent 
breasts  and  wider  hips,  and,  in  short,  the  adaptation  of 
her  whole  bodj^  for  her  liighest  function  of  motherhood. 

Of  the  two  sexes  it  is  thus  evident  that  the  female  is  by 
far  the  more  distinctly  sexual,  and  that  the  state  of  her 
mind  and  body  is  more  dependent  on  her  corporeal  condi- 
tion. She  assumes  the  complacent  role  normally,  and  is 
by  nature  chaste; — though  intensely  sexual,  she  is  not  nat- 
urallj^  sensual. 

Nubility.  ' 

By  nubility  we  mean  "  the  quality  or  state  of  being  nubile 
or  marriageable."  As  we  have  observed,  the  girl  reaches 
the  marriageable  age  sooner  than  the  boj-.  A  girl  of 
twelve  years  of  age  about  equals  a  bo^^  of  fifteen,  as  far  as 
the  growth  of  the  body  determines  maturity' ;  and  a  girl  of 
fifteen  nearly  equals  a  boy  of  nineteen.  At  eighteen  years 
of  age  a  girl  has  usualh^  attained  her  full  stature,  and 
socially  is  fully  the  equal  of  a  young  man  of  twenty-one 
years. 

Along  with  these  physical  changes  there  are  correspond- 

Few  objects  are  more  beautiful  than  the  minute  siliceous  cases  of 
the  diatomaceae ;   were  these  created  that  they  might  be  examined 
and  admired  under  the  higher  powers  of  the  microscope?" — Darwin, 
"Origin  of  Species,"  pp.  160,  161. 
'  Nubo — to  "marry." 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  69 

ing  changes  in  the  minds  and  social  inclinations  of  the  girls 
which  indicate  their  earlier  maturity. 

Normally,  a  woman  is  capable  of  entering  upon  her  re- 
productive functions  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  being  fully 
matured  and  having  attained  perfect  physical  development. 
If  she  enter  upon  marriage  before  her  full  development 
there  is  a  tendency  to  abortion  and  diiScult  childbirth. 

The  reproductive  power  further  implies,  in  addition  to 
bringing  forth  the  child,  the  capacity  to  supply  nourish- 
ment (milk).  While  a  girl  of  sixteen,  seventeen,  or  eigh- 
teen years  of  age  could  do  this,  yet  a  woman  of  twenty- 
one  forms  a  far  better  wet-nurse,  and  is  even  better  adapted 
for  this  function  at  twenty -two  or  twenty -four  years  of  age. 

If  a  woman  be  too  young  when  she  enters  upon  the  pro- 
cess of  reproduction,  the  breasts  are  not  fully  developed, 
and  she  may  run  short  of  milk  in  six  months  or  less ;  and,  fur- 
ther, she  is  not  psychically  developed,  and  is  consequently 
unfit  for  motherhood. 

In  the  male  sex,  adolescence  lasts  on  the  average  until 
twenty-five  years  of  age,  before  which  time  there  is  not  the 
full  development  of  the  manly  tyi^e.  "  A  young  man  who 
marries  before  his  beard  is  fully  grown  breaks  a  law  of 
nature  and  sins  against  posterity"  (Clouston).  Besides 
the  responsibility  of  procreating  healthy  children,  marriage 
further  entails  the  exercise  of  the  manifold  parental  duties. 

The  undeveloped  young  man  who  squanders  his  semen 
commits  a  i:)hysiological  sin  which  is  manifested  by  an  im- 
perfect develoi^ment  of  the  mind  and  lack  of  consolidation 
in  the  physique ;  and  certainly  the  functions  of  the  testi- 
cles, upon  which  the  evolution  of  the  manh^  type  wholly 
depends,  should  be  the  very  last  to  be  trifled  with. 

"Women  may  be  advised  to  marry  not  earlier  than 
twenty-one — between  twenty-one  and  twenty-eight — when 
in  our  climate  they  are  best  fitted  to  become  wives  and 
mothers.  Men  had  better  wait  until  between  twenty-eight 
and  thirty-five  before  they  undertake  the  responsibilities 


70  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

of  being  parents.'"  However,  if  circumstances  permit,  it 
is  undeniably  physiological  to  marry  soon  after  full  ma- 
turity lias  been  readied. 

The  Climacteeic. 

The  sexual  life  of  both  men  and  women  continues  until 
the  climacteric,  which  is  a  momentous  change,  or  crisis,  in 
the  lives  of  individuals,  when  the  balance  between  tissue- 
waste  and  restitution  is  disordered.  After  this  event  the 
indi^ddual  is  in  the  afternoon  of  life  and  is  again  sexless 
from  a  physiological  standpoint.' 

This  physiological  change  comes  on  quite  abruptly  in 
women  sometime  between  the  forty-second  and  fiftieth 
years,  with  the  heaviest  figures  in  the  forty-fourth  j-ear.  In 
men  it  is  gradual  and  longer  deferred,  occurring,  as  a  rule, 
somewhere  between  the  fiftieth  and  sixt\  -fifth  year,  though 
the  effects  of  the  change  are  by  no  means  so  clearly  appre- 
ciable in  them  as  in  women.  As  a  rule,  the  male  reproduc- 
tive elements,  or  spermatozoa,  disaj^pear  from  the  semen 
at  about  the  sixty-second  year,  though  the  individual  may 
be  quite  able  to  copulate  satisfactorih'  for  some  years  more. 
Exceptionally  the  virile  power  remains  with  men  even  to  the 
most  advanced  age ;  but  women,  almost  without  exception, 

'  Reginald  Southey,  Quain's  "Dictionary  of  Medicine, "  p.  378. 

^  "  When  the  animal  kingdom  is  surveyed  fi-om  a  broad  standpoint 
it  becomes  obvious  that  the  ovum,  or  its  correlative  the  spermato- 
zoon, is  the  goal  of  an  individual  existence  :  that  life  is  a  cycle  be- 
ginning in  an  ovum  and  coming  round  to  an  ovum  again.  The 
greater  part  of  the  actions  which,  looking  from  a  near  point  of  view 
at  the  higher  animals  alone,  we  are  apt  to  consider  as  eminently  the 
purposes  for  which  animals  come  into  existence,  when  viewed  from 
the  distant  outlook  whence  the  whole  living  world  is  surveyed,  fade 
away  into  the  likeness  of  the  mere  by-play  of  ovum-bearing  organ- 
isms. The  animal  body  is  in  reality  a  vehicle  for  ova;  and  after 
the  life  of  the  parent  has  become  potentially  renewed  in  the  offspring, 
the  body  remains  as  a  cast-off  envelope  whose  future  is  but  to  die." 
—Foster,  "  Text-Book  of  Physiology, "  p.  720. 


PHYSIOLOGY   OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  71 

are  sterile  before  tliej"  have  reached  the  fiftieth  year.  With 
the  completion  of  the  functions  of  sperm-formation  b}'  the 
male,  and  of  ovulation,  or  egg-formation,  by  the  female, 
their  sexual  lives  become  forever  closed. 

Such  is  the  history  of  life !  At  first  a  neuter ;  then  a 
rapid  growth  and  development  of  the  bodj'  with  sexuality 
as  the  distinguishing  and  fashioning  feature;  then  the 
maturation  and  expansion  of  the  physical  and  psychical 
endowments ;  then  the  reproductive  period,  followed  by  that 
of  quiescence  and  old  age,  when 

"...  Years  steal 
Fire  from  the  mind,  as  vigor  from  the  limb  ; 
And  life's  enchanted  cup  but  sparkles  near  the  brim."  ' 

•Byron,  "Childe  Harold,"  canto  iii. 


CHAPTEE   III. 

A  PEOPER  CALCULATION  OF  THE    CONSEQUENCES    OF    ntPURITy 
FEOM  THE  PEE30NAL  STANDPOINT. 

"They  bore  as  heroes,  but  they  felt  as  men." — Pope. 

A  LARGE  number  of  men  seemingly  adopt  as  their  rule 
in  life  tlie  "Greatest  Happiness  Principle,"  loving  tliem- 
selves,  as  a  routine,  with  an  overweight  of  devotion ;  and  yet 
most  of  them  would  feel  a  deep  personal  dissatisfaction  "if 
they  failed  to  conform  to  their  interpretation  of  the  "  Law 
of  Honor." 

The  imjiutation  of  selfishness  or  utilitarianism  is  highly 
offensive  to  every  one,  for  all  acts  which  are  considered 
noble  are  characteristicalh'  unselfish;  and  in  every  com- 
munity, civilized  or  aboriginal,  motives  are  praised  only 
when  t\iey  are  disinterested,  and  condemned  when  selfish. 
Thus  the  tribal  and  social  ideas  which  everywhere  pre- 
vail regard  selfishness  as  the  most  ill-sounding  of  words 
and  undesirable  of  qualities.  However,  self-love  is  always 
strongly  asserting  itself  by  a  natural  law  whose  force  it  is 
idle  to  deny,  though  some  by  strength  of  will  succeed  in 
concealing  it,  and  others  live  it  down  by  the  nobility  of 
their  lives. '  But  however  much  selfishness  is  the  natural 
equipment  of  man,  it  is  nevertheless  a  comfort  to  reflect 
that  one  cannot  be  false  to  others  if  true  to  himself.  "  Self- 
love  is  not  despicable,  but  laudable,  since  duties  to  self,  if 
self-perfecting— as  true  duties  to  self  are — must  needs  be 
duties  to  others."" 

'  "A  dog  is  the  only  thing  on  this  earth  tliat  loves  you  more  than 
he  loves  himself. "—Darwin,  "Descent  of  Man,"  p.  70. 
«Maudsley,  "Body  and  Will,"  p.  166. 


74  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

Self-love  is  assuredly  very  largely  tlie  principle  of  our 
actions,  but 

"Self-love,  my  liege,  is  not  so  vile  a  sin 
As  self-neglecting." ' 

The  Ego,  or  reflective  consciousness  of  tlie  individual, 
constantly  asserts  itself  by  desiring  to  take  an  active  part 
in  tlie  joys  and  deliglits  wbicli  its  possessor  may  give  to 
others,  and  to  a  certain  extent  it  is  laudable  to  make  this 
the  principle  of  our  actions,  since  it  can  result  in  no  harm 
to  others  while  yet  harmonizing  with  the  law  of  self-pres- 
ervation. 

But  we  shall  see  that  the  lusting  man  must  be  emi- 
nently selfish,  thinking  to  enjoy  himself  and  benefit  him- 
self at  the  expense  of  earth's  tenderest  and  sweetest 
creatures;  that  he  heeds  not  the  results  of  his  pleasure- 
seeking;  that  he  violates  his  mother's  sex,  juggles  with 
the  possibilities  of  paternity,  transmits  disease  to  his  wife 
and  posterity,  outrages  M^thout  conscience  all  rational 
moral  laws,  and  seeks  self-enjoyment  as  his  highest  aim 
in  life.  Like  the  ancient  school  of  Greek  philosox)hers 
who  maintained  the  hedonistic  ^  doctrine  that  the  pursuit 
of  pleasure  for  the  moment  is  the  highest  good,  and  that  a 
man  should  direct  his  i)leasures  as  he  chooses  rather  than 
be  restrained  b\'  his  will,  these  men  take  no  account  of  the 
welfare  of  others,  but  are  in  their  feelings  and  conduct 
wholly  egoistic  in  their  hedonism,  and  make  the  pursuit  of 
pleasure  their  God — the  chief  good.  Such  a  kind  of  self- 
love  and  such  men  society  does  not  want,  but  rather  recog- 
nizes as  honorable  a  disinterested  desire  for  the  prosperity 
of  those  who  are  dear  to  us  and  who  will  survive  us,  and 
for  others  of  our  race ;  and  considers  this  kindlj^  disposi- 
tion as  characteristic  of  one  who  has  arrived  at  a  high 
state  of  civilization  and  nobility. 

'  Henry  V. ,  Act  ii. ,  Scene  4. 

*7/(JowJ — delight,  enjoyment,  pleasure. 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  75 

Tliere  are  in  the  world  two  armies  of  men — one  the 
Army  of  Impurity,  the  other  the  Army  of  Purity.  The 
former  and  numerically  greater  army  is  camx)aigning 
against  womankind  by  every  device  of  deceit,  treachery 
and  corruption,  while  the  latter  represents  the  strong  men 
and  real  friends  of  women  and  posterity.  Many  true  men, 
many  noble  men,  many  thoughtless  men  may  be  in  the 
wrong  camp  through  misconception;  but  one  can  hardly 
conceive  of  their  cause  gaining  recruits  from  those  who 
have  taken  the  pains  to  learn  the  casus  belli. 

It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  what  we  desire  above 
all  else  is  to  have  the  noblest  possible  specimens  of  man- 
hood adorning  our  contemporary  history — men  who  refresh 
us  by  their  loftiness  of  character  and  who  command  our 
respect  for  their  heroism  and  gallantry;  and  whatever 
course  will  acccomplish  this  result  is  best — best  for  us 
and  best  for  posterity. 

As  an  axiom,  then,  we  say  that  the  man  who  is  clean  in 
morals  and  physique  is  the  right  kind  of  citizen  for  the 
hopes  of  the  present  and  future  of  society. 

Of  course  it  is  a  fight !  Yes,  we  grant  that  it  is  a  battle- 
royal  to  keep  oneself  chaste  and  pure  from  early  man- 
hood till  the  sexual  powers  are  extinguished  by  old  age, 
and  for  sense  to  triumph  over  sin.  But  when  once  we  fully 
understand  the  benefits  to  be  derived  from  leading  a  pure 
life,  and  the  dangers  of  a  contrary  course,  we  shall  earnest- 
ly strive  to  adhere  to  the  former  in  spite  of  all  temptations. 

Nocturnal  emissions  of  semen  occur  occasionally  in  all 
normal  men  as  desirable  physiological  events  which  give 
convincing  proof  of  virility.  Every  healthy  man,  after 
puberty,  feels  the  flame  of  sexual  desire  and  generative 
inclination  to  a  very  considerable  extent.  Nature  using  this 
as  a  spur  to  compel  him  to  accumulate  proi:)erty,  marry,  and 
perpetuate  offspring ;  and  at  times  he  experiences  what  are 
called/'  wet  dreams"  or  "  pollutions,"  in  which  the  distended 
seminal  vesicles  are  relieved  of  their  superabundant  semen. 


76  HEREDITY   AND  MORALS. 

Silly  men,  wlio  gain  tlieir  information  from  the  evil  x>ubli- 
cations  of  charlatans  who  are  wholh'  mercenary'  in  their 
aims,  wrongly  attribute  these  losses  to  some  mischief  in 
their  generative  functions. 

The  emissions  occur  with  varying  frequency  in  different 
men,  and  in  the  same  man  at  diflfereut  times.  If  one 
takes  little  exercise,  oversleejjs,  lives  on  a  rich  diet,  uses 
tea,  coffee,  or  tobacco  to  excess,  and  stimulates  his  mind 
with  erotic  fancies  and  pursuits,  he  will  probably  experi- 
ence them  with  more  frequency  than  the  active  man  who 
directs  his  energies  more  to  his  brain  and  muscles  than  to 
his  sensual  nature. 

According  to  the  trend  of  the  thoughts  and  the  mode  of 
life  the  "  pollutions"  may  in  health  occur  as  frequently  as 
once  in  every  ten  or  fourteen  days,  or  as  seldom  as  once  in 
several  weeks,  or  very  rarely  in  those  who  are  leading  ex- 
cessively active  lives.  To  the  continent  man  these  nocturnal 
emissions  afford  a  safeguard  against  sexual,  moral  and  in- 
tellectual turbulence.  It  may  frankly  be  admitted  that 
one's  amorous  desires  increase  with  the  accumulation  of 
semen,  so  that  it  is  more  difficult  at  these  times  to  remain 
chaste  in  thought  and  action;  but  with  the  recurrence  of 
this  function  of  ejaculation,  a  feeling  of  phj'siological  ease 
follows.  There  need  be  no  shame  or  regret  over  this  phe- 
nomenon, since  it  is  almost  as  much  a  man's  nature  to 
have  an  occasional  emission  of  semen  as  it  is  a  woman's 
function  to  menstruate.  It  is  a  natural  substitute  for 
copulation,  and  a  characteristic  sign  that  the  individual 
still  retains  the  health  and  power  to  procreate,  though 
j)otency  may  remain  after  emissions  have  ceased. 

After  maturity  is  reached  a  man  begins  to  feel  longingc 
for  a  wife,  and  home  and  children,  which  sexual  inclina- 
tions are  quite  different  from  those  of  the  romantic  youth 
or  voluptuary.  Unless  a  stern  duty  compel  him  to  forego 
the  delights  of  marriage,  one  should  shape  and  subordinate 
his  ambition  toward  the  accomplishment  of  this  natural 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OP  IMPURITY.  77 

and  establislied  custom  at  some  day,  and  continually  seek 
to  1) reserve  liis  bod^^  and  character  fit  to  i^erform  the  func- 
tions of  a  lover,  husband,  father,  and  good  citizen.  To  at- 
tain this  lofty  position  it  is  necessar^^  for  him  to  retrench 
his  pleasures,  both  for  his  own  welfare  and  for  the  sake  of 
his  wife,  children  and  society ;  and  he  can  lead  a  perfectly 
continent  life  with  the  assurance  that  his  jDrocreative  pow- 
ers will  not  the  earlier  wane  on  that  account. 

Men  of  the  greatest  force  are  to-day  living  chastely  as 
bachelors.  And  as  eminent  examples  of  such  lives  may  be 
mentioned  the  names  of  men  of  such  vigor  and  mental 
acumen  as  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Beethoven,  Kant,  and  Jesus 
of  Nazareth. 

A  man's  personal  welfare,  apart  from  all  considerations 
of  a  loftier  nature,  is  certainly  not  dependent  on  his  sexual 
gratification.  In  fact,  the  proper  subjugation  of  the  sexual 
impulses,  and  the  conservation  of  the  complex  seminal  fluid, 
with  its  wonderfulh^  invigorating  influence,  develojD  all  that 
is  best  and  noblest  in  men;  for  love's  impidse  has  its  very 
foundation  in  the  sexual  domain.  On  the  contrary,  the 
lusting  man,  assuming  a  far  greater  freedom  than  the  mar- 
ried man,  no  sooner  experiences  the  effects  of  an  accumu- 
lation of  semen  than  he  hastens  to  rid  himself  of  it,  with  a 
corresponding  loss  of  health}'  animation.  Such  a  course 
is  unphysiological,  and  prevents  the  development  of  the 
ideal  athletic  or  mental  type  of  manliness.  This,  as  might 
be  anticipated,  is  shown  by  the  observed  results.  A  char- 
acter which  is  chaste  and  pure  continually  j)refers  higher 
thoughts  to  lower  thoughts,  and  manliness  to  unmanliness ; 
and  if  even  the  lesser  degrees  of  coarseness  and  lewdness  are 
harbored  in  the  intellect,  or  if  it  be  stimulated  by  erotic 
fancies  and  associations,  its  owner  will  fall  short  of  being 
a  noble  man.  Invariably  the  character  of  an  incontinent 
man  is  degenerated;  and  if  he  is  unregenerate,  it  pro- 
gressively continues  to  degenerate.  One  cannot  be  a  liber- 
tine or  fornicator  without  telling  and  hearing  lies,  nor  asso- 


78  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

ciate  in  levity  with  coarse  and  diseased  men  and  women 
without  contamination;  nor  is  there  any  j)ossible  way  in 
which  one  can  gratify  his  sexual  passions  extra-matrimo- 
nially,  and  not  come  off  with  a  character  smirched  and 
soiled. 

Unquestionably  the  sexual  instinct — not  the  sensual — is 
the  most  powerful  of  the  appetites,  and  exerts  a  directing 
influence,  beyond  the  bounds  of  ordinary  belief,  over  the 
life-history  of  every  man  aDd  woman.  It  were  false  to  deny 
this;  and  woe  to  the  world  when  this  is  not  so!  But  from 
every  consideration  which  appeals  to  reason,  or  science, 
or  love,  or  morality,  or  health,  the  indulgence  of  this  power- 
ful passion  must  be  kept  within  the  physiological  limits 
which  are  afi^orded  only  by  the  married  life. 

To  accentuate  the  power  of  the  sexual  instinct  is  not  to 
assume,  that  normal  men's  and  women's  minds  are  over- 
burdened with  a  desire  to  fornicate ;  but  we  desire  to  point 
out  that  it  is  this  noble  instinct  which  impels  love  between 
the  sexes,  love  of  i^rogeny,  love  of  home,  love  of  purity,  and 
admiration  for  true  manliness  and  true  womanliness — being, 
in  fact,  the  very  fountain-source  of  love,  which  must  not  be 
polluted.  Love  and  the  sexual  instinct  go  hand  in  hand. 
On  this  account  we  see  a  girl  fonder  of  another's  brother, 
and  a  youth  fonder  of  another's  sister;  we  see  it  through- 
out all  animate  nature,  if  we  will  but  observe;  we  see  it  in 
all  its  purity  between  male  and  female  birds — and  nothing 
is  prettier  than  the  share  which  each  loyal  parent  assumes 
in  constructing  and  maintaining  their  nest  and  family. 

After  a  wife  has  conceived  and  is  carrying  the  embryo 
child  within  her  womb,  and  still  more  so  after  parturition, 
a  new  and  different  kind  of  love  springs  up  in  her  breast 
for  her  husband,  and  also  in  the  heart  of  the  husband 
for  his  wife,  both  being  awed  by  the  feeling  that  ihej  have 
been  permitted  in  the  course  of  natural  law  to  reproduce  a 
new  human  being  which  partakes  eciually  of  their  natures. 

As  beautiful  an  event  as  we  can  think  of  is  the  transfor- 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  IMPURITY.  79 

mation  of  a  virgin  into  a  wife  and  mother ;  and  had  society 
been  rightly  educated,  it  would  regard  the  transformation 
of  a  man  into  a  husband  and  father  as  equalh'  l^eautiful. 
If  both  are  pure,  both  are  ennobled;  if  one  is  imj^ure,  both 
are  degraded ;  they  twain  are  one  flesh.  An  incontinent 
man  forfeits  this  high  privilege. 

Those  of  extended  experience  in  the  affairs  of  "  men  of 
the  world"  well  know  the  prevalence  of  the  i^ractice  of  pro- 
miscuous fornication,  not  only  among  bachelors,  but  also 
among  married  men  with  families.  Such  infractions  of  the 
moral  canons  of  civilization  nature  visits  with  dire  punish- 
ment by  the  imposition  of  "venereal  diseases."  These 
maladies  are  most  feared  b}'  those  who  understand  them 
best ;  for  ihej  often  ruin  the  health  of  the  sufferer,  remain 
latent  for  long  periods  of  time,  and  are  liable  to  be  trans- 
mitted to  one's  wife  and  posterity.  Irregular  sexual  inter- 
course among  the  lower  animals  is  not  so  punished  by 
venereal  disease,  for  the  brutes  are  far  purer  in  their  de- 
sires and  cleaner  in  their  methods  than  the  lewd  i)art  of 
humanity. 

Every  physician  of  much  experience  can  report  a  multi- 
tude of  instances  in  which  a  i)ure  girl  has  been  degraded 
by  marriage  with  a  libertine,  and  infected  with  an  acute  or 
latent  form  of  venereal  disease  of  which  she  never  suspects 
the  nature,  but  on  account  of  which  she  enters  upon  a  life 
of  invalidism,  her  children  often  sharing  in  the  catastrophe. 
Women  are  only  exceptionally  the  aggressors;  it  is  the 
men  who  bring  the  poison  into  the  family  circle.  It  is 
certain  that  wives  are  by  far  more  generally  true  to  their 
vows,  and  that  they  as  a  rule  love  the  bonds  of  matrimony 
more  than  their  husbands  do,  and  that  a  shameful  number 
of  married  men  secretly  violate  conjugal  vows,  only  to  bring 
sorrow,  disease  and  destruction  into  their  own  households. 
Such  a  man  approaches  the  nature  of  a  beast;  naj^  he  is 
worse  than  a  beast ;  for  the  beast  breaks  no  vows  and  en- 
joys an  assurance  of  immunity  from  venereal  disease,  while 


80  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

the  man  treads  a  patli  known  to  be  beset  witli  sorrow, 
broken  vows,  separations,  disease,  augnisli  and  death. 

It  is  a  fact  that  innumerable  men,  otherwise  intelligent, 
are  miserably  and  calamitously  unenlightened  concerning 
matters  pertaining  to  their  sexual  nature,  having  an  active, 
deformed  ignorance,  and  being  distinguished  for  their  one 
purpose  to  enjo}-  themselves — men  of  but  one  idea,  and 
that  a  wrong  one.  Doubtless  they  think  it  convenient  to 
be  thus  ignorant.  In  affairs  of  business,  men  usually  have 
an  established  mode  of  investigating  every  detail,  and  are 
guided  b}-  reason  and  judgment  in  their  transactions ;  but 
when  it  comes  to  the  question  of  health  or  morals — factors 
of  paramount  importance — many  give  over  all  responsibil- 
ity. Because  punishment  is  remote  and  slow  in  being 
meted  out,  some  offenders  api)arentl3'  escaping,  they  think 
to  avoid  the  inexorable  retribution  which  a  violation  of 
Nature's  laws  entails. 

Several  most  skilful  venereal  specialists  have  recently 
said  in  verbal  communications  to  the  writer  that  personally 
they  w^ould  rather  have  an  attack  of  syphilis,  if  it  could  be 
well  treated,  than  a  badly  treated  or  neglected  case  of  gon- 
orrhoea; and  this  but  voices  the  opinion  of  the  modern 
profession. 

^sop's  fox,  when  he  had  lost  his  tail,  strove  to  modify 
the  prevailing  fashion  by  advising  his  fellow  foxes  to  follow 
his  example  and  abridge  their  caudal  appendages ;  but  he 
never  was  the  same  fox.  Similarly,  a  diseased  man  after  a 
time  becomes  content  with  his  bodilv  condition,  actuallv 
imagines  himself  cured  without  authoritative  confirmation, 
and  reports  to  his  companions  in  favor  of  running  the  risk ; 
saying  something  which  sounds  like  superlative  wisdom  to 
the  ignorant,  many  of  whom  blindly  follow  his  example. 

Men  who  make  a  practice  of  illicit  intercourse  almost 
never  escape  disease.  There  may,  of  course,  be  a  few  ex- 
ceptions to  this  rule;  but  practically  every  worshipper  at 
Phryne's  shrine  receives  as  his  punishment  the  inevitable 


THE   CONSEQUENCES  OF  IMPURITY.  81 

sting  of  disease ;  and  lie  may  acquire  all  tlie  forms — gon- 
orrbcea,  chancroids,  syiDliilis,  and  even  leprosy,  wliicli  is 
largely  a  venereal  disease. 

"WTien  tlie  writer  was  in  Vienna  lie  made  tlie  friendship 
of  a  most  intelligent  Russian  gentleman,  a  patient  in  the 
hospital,  who  had  formerly  been  a  merchant  in  Bombay. 
This  man  was  under  one  professor's  treatment  for  syphilis 
and  under  another's  for  leprosy.  Gonorrhoea  he  of  course 
had  had.  Oh,  the  anguish  of  that  sufferer !  Cut  off  from 
all  fellowship  with  the  world,  he  3' et  acknowledged  that  he 
deserved  all  he  had  got  on  account  of  his  profligacy ;  but  it 
was  a  terrible  load  to  bear — no  hope  of  cure,  separate  eat- 
ing utensils,  a  characteristic  uniform,  shunned  by  every 
one,  no  friends,  no  outlook  but  a  i»rogressive  advance  to  a 
loathsome  decay  and  death.  Repentance  and  contrition 
he  had,  so  that  his  moral  offence  might  be  forgiven,  but 
the  darksome  plight  of  his  body  was  past  repair. 

Leprosy,  it  is  true,  does  not  seriously  threaten  the  care- 
less man  at  the  present  time ;  but  there  are  a  great  num- 
ber of  cases  in  Norway,  Nova  Scotia,  Louisiana,  South 
America  (notably  Brazil),  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  all 
throughout  Asia,  and  now  and  again  it  is  seen  sporadi- 
cally in  our  large  cities.  Sexual  impurity  is  closely  asso- 
ciated with  its  spread. 

Prof.  Howard  A.  Kelly,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
a  surgeon  of  great  experience,  says : 

"  It  is  not  a  venial  sin  for  men  to  consort  with  prostitutes. 
It  blunts  a  man's  finer  sensibilities,  it  lowers  his  respect 
for  women,  it  leaves  its  indelible  marks  in  disease,  for 
sooner  or  later  every  man  who  indulges  his  passions  un- 
lawfully contracts  disease.  It  is  not  possible  for  either 
men  or  women  who  prostitute  themselves  freelj^  to  escape 
it.  And  these  diseases  are  not  only  the  most  loathsome 
and  the  most  disgusting  in  their  early  manifestations,  but 
they  have  the  horrible  characteristic  of  becoming  latent. 

A  man  who  contracts  disease  of  this  sort  can  never  be  sure 
6 


82  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

that  lie  is  cured,  for  venereal  disease  is  not  a  merciful  dis- 
ease, like  cancer,  killing  its  victim  within  a  certain  definite 
time.  Eather,  it  is  a  death  in  life ;  such  local  lesion  may 
occur  as  to  destroy  forever  the  sexual  function,  and  the 
unchaste  man  finds  that  he  is  incapable  of  realizing  one  of 
the  chief  blessings  of  life,  surrounding  himself  with  a 
family  of  children,  who  will  be  to  him  in  the  struggle  of 
life  a  daily  incentive  and  comfort,  in  whom  in  old  age  he 
may  live  again.  "^ 

It  may  be  observed  that  men  who  are  on  the  right  track 
grow  better  and  better  as  they  grow  older — that  the  re- 
verse is  true  of  those  who  give  themselves  up  to  impurity, 
and  that  such  degenerate  in  every  fibre  of  their  higher 
faculties,  becoming  less  and  less  tj^pes  of  ideal  manhood. 
How  especially  repellent  it  is  to  see  an  old  man  from  force 
of  habit  and  evil  desire  looking  lustfully  at  young  girls  and 
women ! 

When  a  crop  is  sown  the  reaper  gathers  in  much  more 
than  he  sowed ;  and  so  also  the  pleasure  derived  from  lead- 
ing a  voluptuous  life  is  trifling  indeed  compared  to  the 
amount  of  harm  done  to  one's  health,  career  and  character, 
or  to  his  wife,  posterity,  or  society,  not  to  speak  of  the 
risks — usuallj^  regarded  by  all  as  worthy  the  attention — 
which  he  incurs  by  going  contrary  to  the  uniform  impreca- 
tions of  moral  law  against  such  practices. 

The  privilege  of  sowing  "  wild  oats"  has  been  altogether 
reserved  by  men  for  themselves,  never  being  tolerated  in 
their  sisters ;  but  the  only  w^ay  by  which  one  can  enjoy 
impvirity  of  life  is  to  put  aside  all  thought  for  one's  health 
and  character,  all  respect  for  morality  and  womankind,  all 
intention  of  reaping  what  is  sown,  and  every  quality  which 
stamps  a  true  man,  and  not  to  burden  the  mind  with  a 
thing  so  uninteresting  as  punishment. 

How  disgusting  it  is  to  see  a  man  nursing  his  genital 
organs,  using  lotions  and  drugs,  wearing  supports,  going 

'An  address  to  men,  delivered  in  Baltimore,  Easter  Simday,  1896. 


THE   CONSEQUENCES  OF   IMPURITY.  83 

from  physician  to  quack,  thinking,  pondering,  dreaming, 
talking  of  and  habitually  fixing  his  attention  upon  his  sexual 
organs !  We  doctors  wash  our  hands  in  antiseptics  after 
touching  such  men,  and  yet  they  go  about  eating  with 
clean  people,  using  the  same  towels  and  water-closets  and 
bath-tubs,  and  only  wait  for  the  external  manifestations  of 
their  disease  to  disappear  before  they  return  to  their  lewd- 
ness, being  absolutely  thoughtless  of  the  welfare  of  the 
poor  fallen  women. 

The   Factor  of  Uncleanness  among   Wosien  who    are 
Loose  ^^TH  their  Favors. 

Men  of  high  intelligence  may  frequently  be  heard  to  say 
that  they  feel  safe  in  going  to  the  better  grade  of  bawdy- 
houses,  since  it  is  the  business  of  the  inmates  to  keep 
themselves  clean.  Undoubtedly  one  is  less  liable  to  con- 
tract disease  from  a  professional  strumpet  than  from  an 
immoral  servant-girl,  shop-girl,  or  actress,  because  the 
latter  are  strumpets  in  secret,  and  practise  no  ^precautions ; 
but  the  choice  is  only  relative,  for  all  loose  women  are 
necessarily  most  unclean.  By  sinking  to  a  depth  of  in- 
famy far  below  the  level  of  any  examples  to  be  found 
among  the  brutes,  the  unchaste  members  of  the  human 
family  have  transmitted  the  filthy  venereal  diseases  through 
the  ages,  while  the  lower  animals  are  exemjit. 

Even  among  the  most  degraded  human  beings  there  is 
an  instinctive  feeling  of  self-consciousness  while  in  the 
sexual  embrace,'  while  the  brutes  are  entirely  free  from 
all  modesty,  and,  if  not  frightened,  will  not  hesitate  to  copu- 
late before  witnesses.  This  feeling  of  shame  partly  ex- 
plains why  venereal  affections  are  called  " secret  diseases." 
There  is  no  animal,  not  even  the  swine,  which  from  a  bac- 
teriological jDoint  of  \dew  can  for  a  moment  be  compared 
in  filth  and  repulsiveness  to  a  prostitute.     None  can  fully 

'  For  a  reTolting  and  perhaps  unique  exception,  vide  Xenophon, 
Anabasis,  Lib.  V.,  Cap.  4,  adfinem. 


84  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

appreciate  this  wlio  lias  not  had  an  extended  hospital  and 
dispensary  experience.  When  one  considers  what  she  is 
no  prostitute  is  attractive ;  and  a  visual,  digital  and  micro- 
scopical examination  of  her  sexual  apjiaratus  and  its  secre- 
tions would  cool  the  ardor  of  a  satyr,  if  he  were  capable  of 
appreciating  the  scientific  procedures. 

A  "kept  mistress,"  who  is  limited  to  the  embraces  of 
one  man,  is  not,  strictly  si)eaking,  a  prostitute,  and  she 
may  be  clean  from  infection  if  both  she  and  he  remain  true 
to  each  other.  But  a  prostitute  copulates  with  a  large 
number  of  men,  and  the  fact  that  she  lives  in  the  most  ex- 
clusive and  expensive  "  house"  will  not  save  her  from  dis- 
ease ;  for  the  rich  and  extravagant  men  who  frequent  these 
"high-class"  resorts  have  never  beensupiwsed  to  be  a  whit 
less  free  from  disease  than  their  poorer  counterparts. 

Furthermore,  it  is  the  rule,  almost  without  exception, 
that  every  prostitute  of  much  experience  has  had  gonor- 
rhoea at  some  time,  and  in  quite  a  large  number  of  cases 
syphilis  as  well,  because  they  admit  diseased  men.  Gon- 
orrhoea of  the  male  urethra  is  the  most  frequent  disease 
which  affects  mankind,  as  all  authorities  say,  and,  with 
here  and  there  an  exception,  every  man  who  indulges  much 
in  venere  has  had  gonorrhoea,  or  syphilis,  or  both.  Grant- 
ing that  many  of  these  men  have,  after  the  lapse  of  two 
years  or  so,  recovered  to  such  an  extent  that  there  is  little 
likelihood  of  their  transmitting  infection  to  the  woman,  yet 
even  with  the  best  luck  a  large  number  of  them  will  be 
sure  to  be  suffering  from  disease;  and  men  who  follow 
after,  unless  already-  infected,  cannot  long  escape  contami- 
nation. 

A  gentleman  recently  related  in  the  presence  of  the  writer 
that  several  years  since  he  was  with  a  very  attractive  young 
prostitute,  who  boasted  to  him  of  having  received  $110  on 
that  single  day.  Overcome  with  disgust  at  such  a  striking 
proof  that  harlots  must  be  promiscuous,  he  has  never  visited 
one  since. 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OF  IMPURITY,  85 

"  The  supposition  that  a  prostitute  submits  to  but  one 
act  of  prostitution  every  day  is  ridiculously  small.  No 
woman  could  pay  her  board,  dress,  and  live  in  the  expen- 
sive manner  common  among  the  class,  upon  the  money  she 
would  receive  from  one  visitor  daily ;  even  two  visitors  is 
a  very  low  estimate,  and  four  is  very  far  from  an  um-eason- 
ably  large  one." ' 

By  frequent  douches,  astringent  washes,  and  perfumes, 
the  careful  harlot  may  deceive  her  paramour  into  the  belief 
that  she  is  all  that  his  fancy  and  passion  could  desire;  but 
chronic  and  filthy  discharges  flow  profusely  from  the  whole 
tribe,  and  the  arts  of  the  toilette  only  conceal  the  external 
evidences  of  their  disorders.  A  very  good  damper  to  the 
longing  of  one  who  desires  to  go  into  a  brothel  would  be 
to  stand  outside  for  a  time  and  observe  the  kind  of  men 
whom  he  is  to  follow— silly  fops,  diseased  and  rotten  men, 
worn-out  old  men,  married  men,  uumarriageable  men. 

While  we  have  been  so  positive  in  proclaiming  that  loose 
women  are  diseased  and  loathsome,  yet  we  do  not  wish  to 
be  understood  as  being  too  severe  on  these  poor  creatures. 
It  is  a  hard  thing  at  best  for  any  woman,  more  especially 
if  unequipped  for  it,  to  be  compelled  to  earn  her  own  living 
in  competition  with  men  who  are  often  brutal  to  her;  and 
circumstances  and  disposition  make  it  harder  for  some  than 
for  others.  These  prostitutes  are  not  soulless  creatures, 
and  their  hearts  are  by  no  means  barren  of  good.  Manj^ 
of  them,  indeed,  have  kind  and  honest  natures,  are  self- 
sacrificing  in  their  devotion  to  each  other  when  trouble  or 
sickness  comes,  and  often  have  as  good  sentiments  as  many 
other  more  fortunate  girls.  A  baptism  of  suffering  and 
sorrow  has  added  much  to  their  large-heartedness,  and  the 
spirit  of  mirth  and  revelry  which  is  assumed  when  they 
have  "company"  is  merely  a  thin  veneer  to  their  real  feel- 
ings. There  is  no  one  for  whom  we  should  have  so  much 
sympathy  and  compassion  as  for  a  fallen  woman  who  re- 
1  Sanger,  "History  of  Prostitution,"  p.  599. 


86  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

grets  lier  position — and  multitudes  of  them  are  in  that  con- 
dition. But  the  idea  that  one  can  cohabit  with  a  clean 
harlot — one  who  has  not  been  exi)Osed  to  the  embraces  of 
diseased  men — may  be  absolutely  set  aside  as  absurd.  No 
self-resi)ecting  man  who  fully  appreciates  the  risks  would 
expose  himself  to  such  dangers,  which  are  i)erhaps  greater 
than  the  risk  of  eating  mushrooms  gathered  by  ignorant 
hands. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  at  certain  stages  of  gonor- 
rhoea the  voluptuous  desires  of  some  patients  are  inordi- 
nately intensified.  The  point  of  importance  in  this  con- 
nection is  that  a  most  dangerous  class  of  diseased  men, 
with  almormally  strong  sexual  appetites,  are  going  about 
without  conscience,  supervision,  or  legal  restraint,  and 
using  these  very  women  whom  so  many  men  feel  safe  in 
patronizing. 

Though  harlots  are  so  extremely  unsafe,  it  is  even  more 
dangerous,  as  a  rule,  to  fornicate  with  women  clandestinely ; 
for  they  act  in  ignorance,  without  precautions,  and  secretly, 
while  their  word  is  obviously  untrustworthy. 

A  short  time  ago  the  writer  saw  a  married  man  who 
came  complaining  of  an  irritation  and  discharge  from  his 
penis,  for  which  he  could  not  account,  as  he  had  been  with 
no  woman  except  a  "i)erfectly  honorable  married  lady" 
with  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of  consorting.  From  this 
"perfectly  honorable  married  lady,"  however,  he  had  ac- 
quired a  gonorrhoea,  and  with  his  indisposition  to  submit 
to  treatment  for  the  proper  length  of  time  he  will  probably 
never  recover  from  its  effects. 

Venereal  diseases  are  exceedingly  grave,  and  are  i)racti- 
cally  sure  to  be  acquired  by  every  man  who  indulges  to  any 
considerable  extent  in  illicit  intercourse.  Thej'-  are,  then, 
practically  diseases  of  choice  and  selection,  which  a  man 
really  elects  to  acquire  when  he  puts  himself  in  the  way 
of  them.  If  the  ])rostitute  were  suffering  from  any  of 
the  infectious  fevers,  such  as  small-pox,  scarlet  fever,  or 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  87 

measles,  the  visitor  would  flee  precipitately ;  and  yet  any 
of  these  are  far  less  harmful  in  their  results,  as  a  rule,  than 
the  venereal  diseases.  The  peculiarity  of  these  affections 
is  that  their  course  is  long  drawn  out  over  a  period  of  years 
or  a  lifetime,  except  in  those  cases  which  have  a  fortu- 
nate outcome.  Unless  the  signs  of  disease  were  very  well 
marked,  the  layman  could  not  by  any  possibility  recognize 
them  in  a  woman,  even  after  the  most  minute  inspection ; 
nor,  in  fact,  could  the  most  skilful  physician  Avithout  care- 
ful microscopical  examination,  repeated  at  intervals  over  a 
period  of  considerable  length. ' 

The  Cost  in  Time  and  Money. 

In  venereal  cases  the  usual  moderate  charges  in  cities 
are,  $10  for  the  first  consultation,  and  $5  for  each  sub- 
sequent one,  without  credit.  The  average  doctor  is  pre- 
eminently easy  in  financial  transactions  and  uniformly 
charitable  when  necessity  invites ;  but  from  these  notori- 
ously untrustworthy^  patients,  whose  diseases  are  those  of 
election,  the  fee  is  very  properly  expected  to  be  forthcom- 
ing at  each  visit.  Without  treatment  one  cannot  hope  to 
be  cured,  and  must  either  present  himself  at  the  doctor's 
office,  or  else  be  visited,  sometimes  once  daily,  sometimes 
two  or  three  times  a  day ;  and  if  the  expenses  for  medical 
treatment,  sanitation,  loss  of  time  from  work,  etc.,  be 
taken  into  account,  he  will  be  fortunate  if  he  does  not  have 
a  bill  which  amounts  to  several  hundreds  of  dollars.  Of 
course,  the  average  gonorrhoeal  patient  does  not  pay  any- 
thing like  this  amount ;  but  if  the  case  be  complicated,  or  if 
syphilis  happen  to  be  the  form  of  the  venereal  disease, 
the  expenses  sometimes  amount  to  many  thousands  of  dol- 
lars, which  are  distributed  over  the  years  of  a  lifetime. 

Should  the  patient  not  be  able  to  afford  paj^ment,  he 
must  attend  a  dispensary  for  genito-urinary  diseases,  where 
he  will  be  thrown  into  contact  with  an  aggregation  of  the 
1  For  fuller  explanation,  see  chapter  on  Gonorrhoea. 


88  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

filthiest  and  most  disgusting  specimens  of  humanity,  and 
he  will  be  required  to  take  his  seat  and  rank  himself  along- 
side of  men  whom  a  clean  man  touches  only  from  necessity. 
The  expense  of  keeping  a  mistress  is  often  greater  than 
what  would  suffice  to  support  a  family;  but  even  that 
method  is  not  safe. 

The  Factor  of  the  Doctor's  Skh^l. 

Many  patients  look  up  to  their  doctor  as  a  sort  of  sage, 
blindly'  placing  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  him,  and 
never  giving  a  thought  to  the  possibility  that  he  can  do 
wrong.  It  is  not  for  the  writer  to  sjjeak  disparagingly  of 
a  calling  to  which  he  belongs,  and  which  he  admires  with 
the  deei:)est  reverence ;  but  doctors  are  human,  and  make 
many  an  error. 

No  xih.ysiciau  is  i)roperly  qualified  to  treat  venereal  dis- 
eases who  is  not  skilful  in  microscopy  and  bacteriology ; 
for  the  criterion  of  cure,  which  can  be  told  only  by  the 
microscope,  is  most  essential  in  giving  information  when 
to  stop  and  how  long  to  continue  treatment.  A  great  num- 
ber of  doctors  pronounce  the  cases  cured  far  too  early,  to 
the  lasting  harm  of  their  patients. 

In  many  cases  patients  are  over-treated  or  maltreated  by 
doctors,  and  in  a  majority  of  cases  they  themselves  are 
"lacking,"  as  Finger  says,  "in  a  quality  which  cannot  be 
supplied  by  the  apothecary,  viz.,  patience."  A  large 
number  of  foolish  men  are  deluded  by  the  advertisements 
of  charlatans,  who  not  only  rob  them  of  all  the  money  they 
can  and  give  them  bad  treatment,  liut  also,  v/liat  is  even 
worse,  i)revent  them  from  receiving  good  treatment.  It  is 
well  known  by  physicians  that  only  a  very  small  propor- 
tion of  venei'eal  patients  receive  anything  like  adequate 
attention,  partly  on  account  of  prescriptions  which  are 
carelessly  given  over  the  druggist's  counter,  partly  from 
the  mischief  done  by  the  press  in  receiving  harmful  adver- 
tisements, and  partly  owing  to  the  desire  among  patients 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  89 

to  cease  treatment  as  soon  as  possible.  Thus  the  medical 
profession  is  handicapped,  and  cannot  begin  to  grapple 
with  these  diseases  while  such  ignorance  and  apathy  are 
prevalent. 

Veneeeal  Patients  are  to  All  Intents  and  Purposes 

Poisonous  Animals. 

Loathing  themselves,  and  finding  the  trouble  and  ex- 
pense of  treatment  irksome,  they  long  for  the  day  when 
they  can  consider  themselves  cured,  which  they  do  when 
the  visible  signs  of  disease  have  disaj^peared. 

Diseased  men  get  reckless  in  the  indulgence  of  their 
passions.  Not  only  have  they  lost  their  morale,  strong  in 
the  belief  that  there  is  little  more  for  them  to  acquire,  but 
also  the  inflammation  in  the  deep  urethra,  especially  of  the 
caput  gallinaginis,  morbidly  stimulates  their  passions,  so 
that  these  men  are  most  highly  dangerous  to  human  society, 
being  in  fact  poisonous  men  seeking  to  i^oison  others. 
Excessively  lustful,  and  governed  by  no  moral  restraint, 
they  actively  seek  to  gratify  their  passions  at  the  expense 
of  any  available  woman's  health  and  life,  and  at  the  ex- 
pense of  those  foolish  men  who  follow  in  their  tracks. 

If  mothers  could  only  appreciate  that  such  men  eagerly 
seek  for  invitations  to  balls,  where  they  can  ideally  feast 
their  sexual  fancies  in  the  midst  of  so  much  that  is  at 
best  unquestionably  volui^tuous,  they  would  exercise  a  far 
greater  caution  in  making  out  their  lists  of  invitations.  If 
one  will  write  down  the  names  of  the  men  at  any  large  ball, 
and  scratch  off  all  whom  he  believes  to  be  unfit  to  come 
into  close  contact  with  his  own  sister,  he  will  find  an  object- 
lesson  of  significant  import  and  much  food  for  reflection. 

Fallen  men  not  only  acquire  the  loathsome  venereal  dis- 
eases themselves,  but  also  transmit  them  to  prostitutes,  to 
their  wives,  families  and  posterity.  They  are  enemies  to 
societj^,  and  can  offer  no  excuse  which  is  not  characteristic 
of  an.  irresponsible  selfishness.      With  darkened  intelli- 


90  Heredity  and  morals. 

gence,  and  by  continual  stimulation  of  their  sexual  pas- 
sions with  erotic  thoughts,  sensual  conversation  and  litera- 
ture, and  by  rehearsal  of  lewd  stories,  they  produce  in 
themselves,  and  in  others  who  fall  under  their  noxious 
influence,  an  unconquerable  j^assion.  The  secretion  of  the 
testicles  is  absolutely  the  only  hope  of  the  future  of  the 
race,  and  yet,  if  wrongfulh^  used,  it  is  so  potent  that  it 
may  figuratively  be  classed  along  with  the  secretions  of  the 
poison-fangs  of  venomous  rej^tiles. 

Whether  the  semen  belong  to  a  healthy  or  diseased 
man,  it  is  nevertheless,  when  unphysiologically  used,  a 
concentrated  fluid  of  more  venom  than  any  other  chemical 
product  in  the  world.  If  it  be  the  semen  of  a  syphilitic, 
then  it  is  without  exception  the  acme  of  all  poisons,  which, 
instead  of  exercising  a  rapidly  lethal  effect  like  the  cobra's 
or  rattlesnake's  venom,  inflicts  its  fatally  pernicious  influ- 
ence on  women  and  on  children  who  were  better  far  un- 
born. 

Figuratively,  a  poison  is  "  anything  noxious  or  destruc- 
tive to  health  or  morality,"  and  a  venom  also  is  not  only 
actively  injurious  to  health,  but,  metaphorically,  "any- 
thing that  poisons,  blights,  cankers,  or  embitters."  So 
without  hyperbole  every  man  who  violates  womankind 
unlawfully,  without  sharing  the  consequences  of  intercourse, 
is  literally  a  highly  jDoisonous  and  venomous  animal. 

A  Kefokmed  Peofligate  Makes  a  Poor  Husband. 

Many  an  innocent  wife  is  dragged  down  by  the  grossness 
of  her  husband's  nature,  and  suffers  with  unmerited  dis- 
ease which  has  been  given  to  her  through  his  treachery  and 
falseness.  This  occurs  as  frequently  among  the  upper  as 
among  the  lower  classes ;  but  wives  do  not  often  appreciate 
the  nature  of  their  illnesses,  this  being  necessarily  con- 
cealed by  the  physician  in  the  interests  of  family  peace. 

It  is  a  commonly  expressed  sentiment  that  "  it  is  just  as 
well  for  a  man  to  sow  his  wild  oats  when  he  is  young,  for, 


THE  CONSEQtJliNCES   OF  IMPURITY.  91 

if  lie  does  not,  lie  may  never  get  over  tlie  tendencj-,  and 
perhaps  sow  tliem  after  marriage."  Nothing  couki  be 
more  pernicious  than  such  a  proj^osition ;  for  a  reformed 
profligate  makes  the  poorest  kind  of  a  husband — often  be- 
ing corrupt  in  body,  and  perhaps  having  imperious  mental 
concepts  which  we  will  call  brain-stains.  Societj'  errs  in 
recognizing  a  necessity  to  sin ;  for  the  consequences  of  a 
surrender  to  vice  are  remote  and  lasting,  on  account  both 
of  the  physical  harm  done,  and  of  the  blight  of  licentious- 
ness which  settles  on  the  consciousness  and  inner  nature 
of  the  individual. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  any  should  be  so  thoughtless  as 
to  advocate  a  man's  bringing  the  hideous  fruits  of  his 
licentiousness  into  the  marriage  relationship. 

Intercourse  with  different  women  is  well  known  to  mor- 
bidly increase  desire,  while  married  life  bridles  it  and 
keeps  passion  under  projier  subjection.  The  husband  who 
has  a  clean  record  and  a  mind  free  from  stain  is  far  more 
apt  to  have  perfect  ease  and  perfect  love  for  his  wife ;  but 
indulgence  in  i^romiscuous  fornication  of  course  excludes 
the  feeling  of  love,  which  is  a  physiological  necessity  in  a 
true  sexual  relationship :  and  one  who  has  been  a  fornicator 
is  bound  to  have  a  soiled  imagination,  and  perhaps  a  dis- 
eased body  as  well.  Purity  of  life  is  the  greatest  incen- 
tive to  marriage;  and  the  lusting  man,  fortunately,  does 
not  feel  much  impulse  to  marry,  finding  elsewhere  the 
opportunities  to  act  a  part  which  he  considers  natural,  and 
being  poisoned  in  his  inner  nature  at  the  very  sources  from 
which  true  love  springs. 

Through  the  association  of  ideas,  trivial  circumstances, 
as  is  well  known,  may  produce  impotency  in  men,  so  that 
they  may  have,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  a  horror  femince,  or 
loathing  for  all  or  for  certain  women ;  or  perhaps  they  may 
be  compelled  to  create  stimuli  ideally  in  order  to  be  potent. 
That  this  should  be  so  is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  when 
we  consider  that  the  sexual  orgasm  is  attended  with  the 


92  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

most  intense  nerve  excitement,  and  that  the  cerebral  centres 
which  preside  over  the  emotions  are  in  a  state  of  intensified 
susceptibility  during  the  act  of  copulation,  so  that  the 
brain-cells,  ujion  such  occasions,  are  peculiarly  liable  tc 
have  permanent  impressions  firmh'  and  ineradicably  fixed 
ujjon  them.  So  intense  is  sexual  excitement  in  some  in- 
dividuals that  many  of  the  frequent  deaths  of  elderly  men 
in  bawdy-houses  are  attributed  to  syncope  while  in  the 
sexual  orgasm.  Male  insects  usually  die  after  sexual  con- 
gress ;  and  some  animals  are  so  rapt  in  ecstas}^  during  the 
act  that  they  can  be  mutilated  without  their  paying  the 
slightest  attention.  Even  under  the  usual  degree  of  in- 
tensity^ of  excitement  which  is  experienced  during  the  con- 
summation of  the  act,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
mental  impressions  which  are  then  prominent  become  deep 
and  lasting.  Accordingly,  if  sentient  men  fornicate  with 
the  coarse,  the  low,  the  vicious,  the  strongly  perfumed, 
and  the  voluptuously  attired  harlots,  they  maj^  render 
themselves  mentally  soiled,  and  perhaps  at  a  remote  date 
be  impotent  for  copulation  with  their  pure  wives,  unless 
they  resort  to  some  sham  or  mental  trickery. 

There  is  an  extraordinary'  importance  attached  to  certain 
accidental  factors  impressed  on  the  mind  of  many  a  de- 
bauchee which  are  essential  to  his  successful  accomplish- 
ment of  the  sexual  act ;  thus,  some  men  are  impotent  with 
blondes,  some  wdth  brunettes,  and  some  with  naked  women, 
while  others  can  copulate  onlj^  if  their  peculiar  fetich  is 
either  ideationally  or  actually  present;  i.e.,  their  idiosyn- 
crasy may  compel  them  to  imagine  themselves  to  be  in 
some  fantastic  relationship  with  the  woman,  or  she  must 
be  attired  \\dth  some  special  article  of  apparel,  or  possess 
some  quality  of  odor,  or  peculiarity  of  manner,  or  other 
indispensable  prerequisite,  the  importance  of  which  is  in- 
conceivable to  a  normal  man.  De  gusfibus  non  est  dis- 
pidandum.  Such  an  association  of  ideas  is  of  course 
pathological,  but  it  often  affects  a  man  who  has  been  pro- 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OP   IMPURITY.  93 

miscuous  iu  his  indulgence,  especially  if  he  be  of  a  nervous 
temjierament,  or  of  a  vicious  ancestry.  It  is  an  acquired 
taint,  making  him  one  of  "Nature's  stepchildren,"  and 
ever  afterward  coloring  and  i)laying  an  active  part  in  his 
psycho-sexual  life.  Men  who  enjoy  sexual  pleasure  with 
many  women  indeterminately  are  not  capable  of  real  love, 
the  great  satisfaction  of  which  consists  in  the  possession 
of  the  beloved  one  body  and  soul,  and  in  being  i)ossessed 
by  her  in  the  same  way,  so  that  the  two  souls  are  knit  to- 
gether, each  confident  of  the  other,  and  each  representing 
to  the  other  the  sum-total  of  possibilities  of  sexual  pleas- 
ures. 

Some  profligate  men  suffer  from  an  impotence,  of  which 
there  are  several  varieties :  1.  Impoteniia  coeundi,  or  defect, 
complete  or  partial,  of  jjower  to  copulate.  2.  Impote}itia 
generandi,  or  inability  to  become  fathers  on  account  of  a 
lack  of  spermatozoids  in  the  semen.  3.  lielativelmjjotence; 
i.e.,  a  man  may  be  perfectly  potent  with  some  women  who 
fulfil  his  i^erverted  ideals,  but  impotent  with  others ;  thus, 
a  man  may  be  unable  to  consummate  the  sexual  act  with 
his  wife,  but  quite  able  to  succeed  with  prostitutes ;  or  he 
may  be  potent  only  if  the  woman  be  entirely  nude,  wdiile 
another  similarly  afi'ected  man  might  require  her  to  be 
dressed  in  some  peculiar  manner,  wearing  the  articles 
which  form  his  fetich,  before  he  could  induce  orgastiii. 
4.  Fsychical  Impotence ;  i.e.,  some  nervous  men,  especially 
those  who  have  resorted  to  unnatural  means  of  sexual  grat- 
ification, and  those  who  are  frightened  by  the  acquisition 
of  venereal  disease,  labor  under  great  nervous  excitement 
from  a  fear  of  inability  to  perform  their  conjugal  duties ; 
in  the  marriage  relationship  they  are  chagrined  at  failure, 
but  may  yet  be  able  to  copulate  satisfactorily  with  prosti- 
tutes. 

A  multitude  of  married  men,  supposedly  reformed  profli- 
gates, continue  to  frequent  women  in  secret,  though  they 
have  promised  by  their  marriage  vows  to  guard  theij'  wives 


94  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

or  else  endure  tlie  worst ;  but  tlie  women  allied  witli  tliem 
in  ma,rriage  consented  to  do  what  Portia  wiselj^  refused  to 
do — "  if  I  should  marry  him,  I  should  marry  twenty  hus- 
bands." 

Some  statisticians  say  that  seventy-five  per  cent  of  mar- 
riages are  unhappy ;  nor  can  it  be  wondered  at  so  long  as  a 
debased  society  continues  to  condone  profligacy.  "  Unlike 
the  women  [liarlots],  the  men  are  di'awn  from  no  single 
class,  condition,  or  age  in  the  communit}^  but  from  all 
alike.  They  are  drawn  into  the  vortex  by  an  instinct,  it  is 
true,  but  not  a  natural  one — a  perverted  one.  It  is  aston- 
ishing how  little  '^''^ission'  there  is  in  the  trade  on  either 
side.  So  far  from  the  'hot  blood  of  youth'  being  chiefly 
resi)onsible,  houses  of  ill-fame  derive  two-thirds  of  their 
income  from  married  men  over  forty."  * 

A  woman  who  gets  a  husband  whose  sexual  excitability 
is  dependent  upon  peculiar  perverted  stimuli,  which  are 
outside  of  her  i)ower  to  gratify-,  will  hardly  be  able  to  keep 
him  from  going  to  strumjiets,  who  alone  can,  and  will, 
pleasurably  stimulate  his  corruj^ted  tastes;  nor  can  she 
reasonably  hope  that  these  extraordinarily  j)owerful  and 
imj)erative  concepts  will  ever  be  rooted  out  from  his  psy- 
cho-sexual life.  Marriage  cannot  be  relied  upon  to  trans- 
form such  men's  natures,  nor  to  eradicate  the  impressions 
which  their  former  lascivious  modes  of  life  have  fixed  as 
indelible  stains  on  those  brain-cells  which  are  concerned 
in  the  phenomena  of  memory  and  imagination.  Those 
who  spend  the  best  years  of  their  lives  in  seeking  for  ille- 
gitimate pleasures,  which  their  reason,  if  used,  would  lead 
them  to  shun,  inevitably  get  the  sting  of  pain  and  sorrow 
for  their  reward.  That  is  not  the  way  to  be  happy,  nor 
can  any  justification  be  found  for  leading  a  reckless  life 
which  is  injurious  to  oneself  and  many  others. 

Tlie  essentials  of  the  secret  of  a  happy  marriage,  by  de- 

'  Woods  Hutchinson,  M.D.,  Medical  News,  New  York,  June  26th, 
1897. 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF   IMPURITY.  95 

ductiou  from  tlie  foregoing,  may  be  shortly  summed  up  as 
follows : 

That  the  man  and  woman  shall  be  well  mated  physi- 
cally, sexually  and  mentally,  in  harmony  in  their  moral 
sympathies,  and  possessed  of  the  normal  sexual  inclina- 
tions and  longings ;  that  each  shall  enter  into  the  relation- 
ship in  virginity,  chastity  and  modesty,  and  that  neither 
shall  be  the  slave  of  polluted  imj^erious  mental  concejits ; 
that  each  shall  represent'  the  sum  total  of  sexual  possibili- 
ties for  the  other,  upon  assurance  of  which  there  can  hardly 
be  jealousy  or  suspicion;  that  they  shall  appreciate  that 
marriage  is,  in  a  sense,  an  immortal  relationship,  their 
lives  continuing  in  their  posterity ;  that  the  husband  shall 
regard  his  wife  with  a  deep  reverence  as  occupying  the 
throne  of  nature,  considering  her  sex  and  her  potentiality^ 
for  motherhood  as  sacred,  and  that  the  wife  shall  be  able 
to  confide  in  the  sure  faithfulness  and  protection  of  the 
husband  for  herself  and  offspring;  and  that  the  founda- 
tions of  their  conjugal  relationship  shall  be  laid  in  a  love 
which  will  bind  them  together  and  cause  them  to  endure 
all  and  suffer  all  for  each  other's  sake. 

"  On  slight  reflection  any  one  wall  see  tiiat  real  love  (this 
word  is  only  too  often  abused)  can  be  spoken  of  only  when 
the  whole  person  is  both  physically  and  mentally  the  ob- 
ject of  adoration.  Love  must  always  have  a  sensual  ele- 
ment, i.e.,  the  desire  to  possess  the  beloved  object,  to  be 
united  with  it  and  fulfil  the  laws  of  nature.  But  when 
merely  the  body  of  the  person  of  the  opposite  sex  is  the 
object  of  love,  when  satisfaction  of  sensual  pleasure  is  the 
sole  object,  without  desire  to  possess  the  soul  and  enjoy 
mutual  communion,  love  is  not  genuine,  no  more  than  that 
of  platonic  lovers,  who  love  only  the  soul  and  avoid  sen- 
sual pleasure." ' 

Health  is  Not  Dependent  on  Sexual  Indulgence. — There  is 
an  erroneous  and  widespread  belief  that  exercise  of  the 
*  Von  Krafft-Ebing,  "  Psychopath ia  Sexualis, "  p.  19. 


96  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS, 

sexual  functions  is  necessary  in  order  to  maintain  health. 
Sophists,  calling  this  a  "  necessary  obedience  to  the  laws 
of  nature,"  claim  the  right  to  degrade  and  ostracise  an 
enormous  number  of  girls  in  a  most  damnable  way  as  an 
unpitied  sacrifice  to  lust. 

If  this  doctrine — that  a  man  cannot  have  good  health 
unless  he  fornicates — were  granted,  the  selfishness  of  our 
sex  would  then  spur  many  of  us  on  to  the  work  of  degra- 
dation of  women,  heeding  not  the  call  of  gallantrj',  and 
recking  not  what  should  betide  the  unfortunate  victims 
and  posterity.  This  perverse  doctrine  is  so  readily  ac- 
cepted because  it  conveniently  fits  in  with  men's  desires 
and  gives  them  a  facet  of  self-justification;  but  every  man 
knows  in  his  inmost  heart  that  it  is  not  necessary  for  him 
to  sin,  and  that  a  bawdy-house  can  never  be  a  health  resort. 

The  muscles  and  certain  glandular  structures,  such  as 
the  salivary,  pei)tic,  pancreatic,  sebaceous  and  sweat  glands, 
and  the  liver,  kidneys,  and  many  other  secretory  organs, 
must  perform  their  functions  contiuuoush',  or  else  they 
will  waste  away  and  lose  their  activities ;  but  the  reproduc- 
tive glands  have  been  so  constructed  that  their  specific  ac- 
tivities can  be  suspended  for  long  jjeriods  of  time  without 
their  atrophy  or  the  slightest  impairment  of  function. 
I  From  the  time  of  puberty'  until  senility  the  testicles  con- 
;  tinue  to  secrete  semen  without  stimulation,  and  will  never 
I  lose  their  power  from  continence.  In  this  particular  they 
resemble  the  inherent  capabilities  of  a  woman's  breasts, 
which  can  remain  quiescent  for  years,  and,  when  called 
into  demand  physiologically,  resi^ond  with  perfect  function. 

One  of  the  world's  foremost  surgeons  says : 

"  The  influence  of  the  sexual  functions  is  so  great  in  the 
economy  of  human  life,  that  any  impairment  of  the  organs 
concerned  is  a  matter  of  importance,  not  only  in  its  effects 
on  the  bodih'  health,  but  even  more  on  the  mental  state  of 
the  person  affected.  ... 

"The  student  should  remember  that  'the  functions  of  the 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  97 

testicle,  like  those  of  the  mammary  ghmd  and  uterus,  may- 
be suspended  for  a  long  period,  possibl}^  for  life ;  and  jet 
its  structure  may  be  sound  and  callable  of  being  roused 
into  activity,  on  any  healthy  stimulus.  Unlike  other 
glands,  it  does  not  waste  or  atrophy  for  want  of  use,  the 
physical  parts  of  man's  nature  being  accurately  adapted  to 
the  necessities  of  his  position,  and  to  his  moral  being."  ' 

And  Prof.  Lionel  S.  Beale,  of  King's  College,  London, 
says: 

"  It  cannot  too  emphatically  be  stated  that  the  strictest 
continence  and  purity  are  in  harmony  with  i:)hysiological, 
physical,  and  moral  laAvs,  and  that  the  yielding  to  the  de- 
sires, the  passions  and  inclinations  cannot  be  justified  on 
physiological,  physical,  or  moral  grounds." 

Some  ignoble  and  profane  doctors  can  be  found,  if  one 
search  for  them,  who  will  advise  men  to  fornicate,  and  in 
times  past  some  instructors  have  been  known  to  tell  medi- 
cal students  that  it  would  be  well  for  them  to  acquire  gon- 
orrhoea in  order  to  know  how  to  treat  it.  But  one  cannot 
justify  himself  by  getting  the  sanction  of  a  man  who,  bear- 
ing the  honorable  title  of  doctor  unjustly,  prescribes  anti- 
dotes which  are  poisonous. 

Reputable  physicians  and  physiologists  all  unite  in  ad- 
vocating a  chaste  and  continent  life,  simx)ly  for  the  sake  of 
one's  health,  independently  of  all  other  considerations. 

Speaking  of  projihylaxis  from  venereal  disease.  Dr. 
Gowers,  an  eminent  London  physician,  makes  the  follow- 
ing excellent  remarks  in  his  lectures  on  Syphilis  and  the 
Nervous  System : 

"  One  method,  and  one  alone  is  possible,  is  sure,  and 
that  one  is  open  to  all.  It  is  the  prevention  and  the  safety 
that  can  be  secured  by  unbroken  chastity.  Is  this  poten- 
tially becoming  greater?  As  we  look  back  through  the 
long  centuries,  we  see  the  sensual  more  dominant  in  the 
past,  growing  less  as  the  race  slowly  rises.  But,  as  we 
*  Bryant's  Surgery,  vol.  ii  ,  p.  244. 

7 


98  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

look  at  the  present,  we  can  trace  small  ground  for  hope 
that  this  process  will  have  any  appreciable  influence  unless 
or  until  there  is  some  change  in  men  more  potent  and 
effective  than  the  slow  'love  upward  working  out  the  beast' 
of  moral  evolution.  But  that  which  will  not  perhaps  be 
for  the  mass  may  yet  be  for  the  indi\ddual.  And,  in  end- 
ing, I  must  ask  a  question  and  give  a  warning  that  I  would 
fain  have  left  unasked,  unsaid.  But  I  cannot,  I  dare  not 
pass  them  by.  Do  we  do  all  we  can — and  our  profession 
gives  us  power  that  no  other  has — do  we  do  all  we  can  to 
promote  that  perfect  chastit}'  which  alone  can  save  from 
this,  and  from  that  which  is  worse?  The  opinions  that  on 
pseudo-psychological  grounds  suggest  or  permit  unchastity 
are  absolutely'  false.  Trace  them  to  their  ultimate  basis 
and  they  are  groundless.  They  rest  only  on  sensory  illu- 
sions, one  of  the  mau}-^  illustrations  of  a  maxim  which  I 
have  often  to  enforce  on  various  sufferers:  'There  are  no 
liars  like  our  own  sensations. '  Bather,  I  should  say,  they 
rest  on  misinterj)retations,  always  biassed,  and  often  delib- 
erate. With  all  the  force  that  any  knowledge  I  possess 
can  give,  and  with  any  authority  I  may  have,  I  assert  as 
the  result  of  long  observation  and  consideration  of  facts  of 
every  kind,  that  no  man  was  ever  yet  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree or  way  the  better  for  incontinence ;  that  for  it  every 
man  must  be  worse  morally,  and  that  most  are  worse  phys- 
icall}',  and  in  no  small  number  the  result  is,  and  ever  will 
be,  utter  i^hysical  shipwreck  on  one  of  the  many  rocks, 
sharp,  jagged-edged,  or'  one  of  the  many  banks  of  fester- 
ing slime,  that  are  about  his  course,  and  which  no  care  can 
possibly  avoid.  And  I  am  sure,  further,  that  no  man  was 
ever  yet  anything  but  the  better  for  perfect  continence. 
M}'  warning  is :  let  us  beware  lest  we  give  even  a  silent 
sanction  to  that  against  which  I  am  sure,  on  even  the  low- 
est grounds  that  we  can  take,  we  should  resolutely  set  our 
face  and  raise  our  voice."  ' 

'  Space  permits  the  use  of  only  a  few  quotations,  but  by  actual 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OP   IMPURITY.  99 

It  is  a  pernicious  pseudo-physiology  wliicli  teaches  that 
exercise  of  the  generative  functions  is  necessary  in  order  to 
maintain  one's  physical  and  mental  vigor  of  manhood. 

For  ever}'  evil  deed  that  men  do  they  seek  some  excuse, 
and  long-repeated  iteration  that  exercise  of  the  sexual  func- 
tions is  essential  for  the  maintenance  of  men's  healthful- 
ness — not  women's — has  caused  this  doctrine  to  be  enthu- 
siastically accepted  as  solving  the  problem  for  those  who 
are  biassed  in  favor  of  fornication.  But  the  excuses  for 
indulging  in  vice  are  untenable  and  the  foul  deeds  are  de- 
fenceless. Nor  can  fashion,  or  custom,  or  weakness,  which 
are  the  devices  of  knaves  and  fools,  excuse,  for  no  such 
plea  will  gain  for  any  one  remission  from  the  sure  physi- 
cal punishment  which  is  visited  b}^  natural  law  upon  those 
who  commit  fault  or  sin ;  nor  can  his  posterity  escape  the 
physical  and  moral  deterioration  which  is  an  organic,  and 
not  a  supernatural  penalty. 

"  One  argument  in  favor  of  incontinence  deserves  special 
notice,  as  it  i)urports  to  be  founded  on  physiology.  I  have 
been  consulted  by  persons  who  feared,  or  professed  to  fear, 
that  if  the  organs  were  not  regularly  exercised,  they  would 
become  atrophied,  or  that  in  some  way  impotence  might 
be  the  result  of  chastity.  This  is  the  assigned  reason  for 
committing  fornication.  There  exists  no  greater  error  than 
this,  or  one  more  opposed  to  i^hysiological  truth.  In  the 
first  place,  I  may  state  that  I  have,  after  many  years'  ex- 
perience, never  seen  a  single  instance  of  atroj^hy  of  the 
generative  organs  from  this  cause.  I  have,  it  is  true,  met 
with  the  complaint — but  in  what  class  of  cases  does  it  oc- 
cur? It  arises  in  all  instances  from  the  exactly  opposite 
cause — early  abuse:  the  organs  become  worn  out,  and 
hence  arises  atrophy.  Physiologically  considered,  it  is 
not  a  fact  that  the  power  of  secreting  semen  is  annihilated  in 

count  the  author  has  at  hand  the  testimony  of  more  than  half  a  hun- 
dred names  of  the  most  eminent  medical  writers  and  practitioners 
that  a  perfectly  chaste  life  is  consonant  with  tJie  most  perfect  con- 
ditions of  health. 


100  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

well-formed  adults  leading  a  liealtliy  life  and  yet  remaining 
continent.  I  have  daily  evidence  that  the  function  goes  on 
in  the  organ  always,  from  puberty  to  old  age.  Semen  is 
secreted  sometimes  slowly,  sometimes  quickly,  but  very 
frequently  only  under  the  influence  of  the  will.  I  have 
already  referred  to  the  fact — which  1  shall  hereafter  treat 
of  in  more  detail — that  when  the  seminal  vessels  are  full, 
emission  at  night  is  not  unfrequent.  This  natural  relief 
will  sufiice  to  show  that  the  testes  are  fully  equal  to  their 
work  when  called  upon.  No  continent  man  need  be  de- 
terred by  this  apocryphal  fear  of  atrophy  of  the  testes 
from  living  a  chaste  life.  It  is  a  device  of  the  unchaste — 
a  lame  excuse  for  their  own  incontinence,  not  founded  on 
any  physiological  law.  The  testes  will  take  care  that  their 
action  is  not  interfered  with."  ' 

Until  our  i:)assions  die  and  we  again  become  neuters,  we 
can  nevea'  be  jierfectly  free  from  temx)tations,  but  we  can  at 
least  rationalh^  subjugate  them  and  resist  them,  so  that 
they  do  not  become  ruling  f)assions  and  we  passion's  slaves. 

Foresight  and  the  observation  of  others  who  have  gone 
along  that  dangerous  x^ath  will  lead  us  to  see  that  indul- 
gence in  illegitimate  pleasure  brings  nothing  but  pain, 
though  the  pursuing  of  that  course  may,  on  the  surface, 
seem  to  be  all  pleasure. 

"  If  a  3'oung  man  wished  to  undergo  the  acutest  sexual 
suffering,  he  could  adopt  no  more  certain  method  than  to 
propose  to  be  incontinent,  with  the  avowed  intention  of 
becoming  continent  again  when  he  had  '  sown  his  wild 
oats.'  The  agony  of  breaking  off  a  habit  which  so  rapidly 
entwines  itself  with  every  fibre  of  the  human  frame  is  such 
that  it  would  not  be  too  much  to  ssix  to  any  youth  com- 
mencing a  career  of  vice :  '  You  are  going  a  road  on  which 
you  will  never  turn  back.  However  much  you  may  wish 
it,  the  struggle  wall  be  too  much  for  you.  You  had  better 
stop  now.     It  is  your  last  chance.' 

'  Acton  on  the  Reproductive  Organs,  p.  38. 


THE  CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  101 

"  There  is  a  terrible  significance  in  the  Wise  Man's  words : 
'None  that  go  to  her  return  again,  neither  take  they  hold 
on  the  paths  of  life. '  "  ' 

In  the  treatment  of  disorders  of  the  sexual  organs  the 
most  important  thing  is  to  maintain  a  correct  hygiene  and 
give  rest  to  the  sexual  functions.  "  The  majority  of  sexual 
invalids  (according  to  Fiirbringer,  eighty-nine  per  cent) 
attribute  their  maladj^  to  sexual  excesses,  onanism,  and 
gonorrhoea." " 

Sexual  invalidism,  sterility,  and  nervous  disorders  in 
the  psycho-sexual  domain  are  thus  seen  to  be  the  concom- 
itants not  of  continence,  but  of  disease  and  excesses. 

"  In  the  course  of  my  ovi^n  professional  exj)erience,  I  can 
truthfully  say  that  I  have  never  met  with  a  single  instance 
in  which  disease  of  any  kind  was  present  as  the  result  of  a 
pure  or  continent  life.  On  the  other  hand,  I  have  seen  the 
most  horrible  results  from  the  unlawful  and  unprof-^ssioual 
ad\ice  sometimes  given  by  physicians  to  young  men,  sug- 
gesting unchastit}^  as  being  essential  for  tlie  relief  of  some 
physical  weakness,  though  I  have  never  met  with  a  single 
case  in  which  the  slightest  benefit  had  been  derived  from 
following  such  advice.  My  observations  with  reference  to 
the  character  of  those  who  give  professional  advice  of  this 
sort  have  long  ago  led  me  to  the  belief  that,  as  a  rule,  only 
those  who  have  themselves  been  impure  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  were  bereft  of  their  ability  to  judge  properly  of 
the  influence  of  a  pure  and  continent  life  are  capable  of 
giving  such  unwise  and  immoral  advice."  ^ 

The  lords  of  the  harem  are  said  to  be  frequently  impo- 
tent at  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  age  on  account  of  the  un- 
restrained stimulation  of  their  reproductive  functions;  and, 

'  Acton,  loc   cit.,  p.  18. 

'  Schrenck-Notzing,  "Suggestive  Therapeutics  in  Psychopathia 
Sexualis,  "  p.  92. 

3  "  Chastity  and  Health, "  J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.  D.  Transactions  of  the 
National  Purity  Congress,  held  in  Baltimore,  October,  1895. 


102  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

in  fact,  it  is  tlie-  lascivious  man  who  is  the  poor,  whining 
sexual  hypochondriac,  while  the  continent  man  suffers  no 
harm  and  retains  his  virility  unimpaired  indefinitely  long, 

Societ}'^  calls  those  women  w^ho  have  fallen  into  the  sin 
of  unchastity  as  sacrifices  for  the  fornicators  hj  the  vilest 
terms,  such  as  "abandoned  women,"  "strumpets,"  "har- 
lots," "whores,"  "prostitutes,"  "courtezans";  they  are  cut 
off  from  all  association  with  their  fellow-beings,  and  are 
deserted  almost  entirely,  even  by  the  churches. 

The  poor  fallen  woman,  hounded  from  garret  to  cellar, 
and  driven  hither  and  thither,  is  treated  by  the  police  as  a 
sort  of  wild  animal,  or  criminal;  she  is  segregated  with 
others  of  her  class ;  she  is  an  outcast.  Society,  while  not 
tolerating  her,  and  while  giving  her  the  most  opprobrious 
epithets,  yet  argues  that  some  women  must  sacrifice  them- 
selves for  the  good  of  mankind !  Why,  then,  if  it  is  neces- 
sary that  these  women  should  exist,  should  we  cast  disgrace 
upon  them?  Eather  should  we  revere  and  extol  them  for 
the  sacrifice  of  themselves  for  the  public  good. 

If  they  are  necessary,  then  they  have,  for  man's  benefit, 
thrown  away  every  prospect  of  the  joj's  of  earth  or  heaven, 
of  home,  of  family,  of  motherhood  and  wifehood,  of  love, 
of  respect,  and  of  hope ;  having  sold  their  peace  of  mind, 
and  happiness  and  honor,  they  have,  in  addition,  sold 
their  own  bodies. 

If  we  maintain  that  their  sacrifice  is  indispensable  for 
the  health  of  the  community,  then  we  should  worship  them 
for  their  self-immolation;  no  martyr  ever  equalled  their 
devotedness,  and  each  of  them,  in  such  an  argument,  is 
worthy  of  a  monument !  If  such  reasoning  be  absurd,  as 
it  assuredly  is,  how  can  any  genuine  man  maintain  that  it 
is  essential  for  the  sake  of  his  health  that  some  woman 
should  sacrifice  for  him  her  honor,  her  health,  her  respect- 
ability, and  her  hope  of  everything  that  is  sweet? 

If  one  has  found  some  poor  woman  who  lives  on  the 
money  which  he  pays  for  her  defilement,  would  that  he 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF   IMPURITY.  103 

might  curb  liis  passions  and  lend  liis  support  toward  re- 
forming her  and  helx)ing  her  to  engage  in  a  reputable 
pursuit !  Would  that  men  might  not  trifle  with  a  fellow 
mortal's  annihilation,  but  help  to  save  her  whose  honor 
rests  upon  our  manly  sympathy !  Why  should  Man  be 
the  only  created  being  to  degrade  women,  when  not  a 
single  animal  ill-treats,  deserts,  or  destroys  the  female  of 
his  kind,  but  rather  shares  with  her  all  the  delights  of  life, 
its  pastimes  and  its  labors !  We  are  made  to  help,  not  to 
destroy  one  another,  and  there  can  be  no  logical  suj^port 
for  the  degradation  of  one  human  being  to  maintain 
another's  health. 

Mrs.  Josephine  E.  Butler,  in  an  address  on  the  Social 
Purity  question,  delivered  before  the  students  of  Cambridge 
Universitj^  England,  said: 

"  Were  it  possible  to  secure  the  absolute  physical  health 
of  a  whole  province  or  an  entire  continent  b}^  the  destruc- 
tion of  only  one  poor  sinful  woman,  woe  to  that  nation 
which  should  dare  by  that  single  act  to  purchase  this  ad- 
vantage to  the  many." 

In  the  company  of  real  men,  who  are  well  grounded  upon 
the  truth,  no  person  can  dare  to  say  that  the  degradation 
of  some  particular  woman  is  a  necessity  for  him,  without 
either  being  kicked  out  of  their  j^resence  as  a  poltroon, 
or  being  classified  as  a  low,  vulgar,  villainous  rascal. 
Where  these  women  are  forced  to  congregate  there  assem- 
bles a  hellish  class  of  abandoned  men,  liars,  thieves,  as- 
sassins, blackmailers,  soiled  and  diseased  men,  syphilitics, 
men  with  chronic  gonorrhoea;  thieves  devise  their  plans 
there,  criminals  and  swindlers  retreat  there,  abortionists 
work  there.  The  police  and  those  familiar  with  city  life 
will  corroborate  every  word  of  this. 

Were  it  necessary  that  the  sexual  functions  should  be 
exercised  in  order  to  maintain  health,  men  could  not  sail 
the  seas  or  make  campaigns  or  undertake  explorations 
without   the   companionship   of   women;    nor  could  men 


104  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

be  continent  during  the  months  when  their  wives  are 
pregnant;  and  the  women,  being  not  so  different 
from  ourselves,  would  also  have  to  indulge  in  the  same 
prescription ;  and  thus  all  the  bulwarks  of  home  life  and 
of  civilization,  such  as  we  strive  for,  would  be  over- 
thrown. 

Whatever  ideas  men  entertain  about  incontinence,  it 
must,  however,  be  remembered  that  no  equivalent  for  sex- 
ual improprieties  can  ever  be  advocated  for  loomen  outside 
of  marriage.  A  father  maj-  even  be  found  who  will  en- 
courage his  sons  to  be  impure,  but  scarcely  one  who  will 
permit  it  in  his  daughters. 

Outside  of  marriage,  everj-  sexual  act  not  having  in  view 
the  i^ropagatiou  of  the  species  is  perverse.  Marriage  is 
of  course  exceedingly  desirable,  and,  in  that  relationship, 
the  temperate  gratification  of  the  sexual  passion  is  health- 
ful, and  immensely  increases  the  love  between  husband 
and  wife.  But  "  purchased  or  forced  love  is  not  real  love" 
(Mantegazza) ;  and  without  this  element,  and  without  the 
intention  of  assuming  the  proper  responsibility  toward 
the  fruits  of  intercourse,  everj^  sexual  act  is  grossly  im- 
moral and  a  perversion  to  be  greatly  ashamed  of. 

Every  one  is  aware  of  the  advantage  to  a  child  if  its  par- 
ents have  both  been  physically  and  mentally  perfected  and 
prepared  for  the  act  of  procreation  by  a  hygienic  course  of 
li\'ing  and  thinking  from  the  very  initial  periods  of  their 
life-histories. 

Mirabeau,  in  speaking  of  the  proper  age  at  which  to 
begin  a  child's  education,  is  reported  to  have  said:  "I 
would  begin  twenty  years  before  he  is  born  by  educating 
his  mother";  and  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  has  well  said: 
"  If  you  want  to  reform  a  man,  begin  with  his  grandfather." 
Any  marriageable  man  is,  of  course,  likely  to  be  the  ances- 
tor of  a  posterity  to  whom  he  is  under  a  certain  unwritten 
obligation ;  and,  if  he  be  thoughtful,  he  will  not  care  to  be 
the  one  to  start  his  race  on  the  road  to  degeneration  hy 


THE  CONSEQUENCES  OP  IMPURITY.  105 

impairing  liis  own  functions  of  body  and  character  with 
disease  which  is  the  fruit  of  his  sin. 

"  One  often  hears  the  expression  that  a  cliild  is  a  chip 
off  the  old  block;  but  this  is  only  a  very  partial  truth,  for 
a  child  is  pre-eminently  a  composite  chip  off  of  many  old 
blocks.  Galton  has  compared  the  comjjlex  nucleus  of  the 
fertilized  ovum"  (i.e.,  the  embryo  child)  "to  a  modern 
Italian  building  which  has  been  constructed  of  mate- 
rial— a  column  here,  a  cornice  there,  a  lintel  yonder 
— gathered  from  different  classic  buildings  of  varying  an- 
tiquity.'" 

Of  course,  then,  if  a  man  poison  his  body  and  mind  by 
sexual  vices,  which  are  more  transmissible  to  posterity  than 
any  other,  he  gives  to  his  heirs  i^illars  which  are  rotten. 

A  chaste  man  holds  his  head  high;  obscenity  does  not 
percolate  from  him,  and  he  is  strong  in  the  assurance  of  a 
perfect,  unimpaired  manhood ;  he  is  apt  to  beget  not  weak- 
lings, but  a  vigorous  and  lusty  race. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  progeny  of  the  impure  are  likely 
to  suffer  on  account  of  the  impaired  and  vitiated  vigor  of 
the  parental  reproductive  functions ;  thus  they  are  liable  to 
have  a  jironeness  to  sin — organic  fault,  or  physical  and 
moral  damage — they  inherit  a  neurasthenic  sexual  predis- 
position, a  slight  resisting  power  against  many  morbid 
tendencies,  a  constitutionally  imj^aired  physical  and  moral 
stamina,  and,  in  innumerable  cases,  the  awful  blight  of  con- 
genital syphilis.  Not  only  the  sons  of  the  i^rofligate,  but 
also  his  daughters,  inherit  the  evil  legacy,  and  whatever 
appears  as  beautiful  in  them  must  chiefly  be  referred,  not 
to  him,  but  to  other  ancestors,  and  to  the  wholesome  influ- 
ences of  education  and  environment. 

Every  rational  man,  who  is  alive  to  the  importance  and 
reality  of  the  transmissions  of  hereditary  strain,  must  come 
unreservedly  to  the  conclusion  that  irregular  indulgence  of 

»  "  Heredity  with  Variation, "  Prof.  D.  K.  Shute.  New  York  Medi- 
cal Journal,  September  11th,  1897. 


106  HEREDITY  AND    MORALS. 

those  very  functions  b}^  wliicli  progeny  is  begotten  is  an 
unmitigated  evil  without  a  single  excuse. 

Intercourse  with  women  who  receive  other  men's  em- 
braces is  disgustiugh'  vulgar  to  any  one  who  at  all  appre- 
ciates the  corruptness  and  i^utridity  of  such  a  practice ;  and 
yet  if  a  man  strive  to  avoid  this  filthiness  by  procuring  a 
woman  who  will  be  true  to  him  alone,  he  may  contract  a 
liaison  which  will  entangle  him  in  such  compKcations  of 
sexual  bondage  that  he  will  be  compelled  to  marry  her. 
Such  women  being  almost  invariabl}"  of  low  social  station, 
a  marriage  of  this  nature  might  blast  a  man's  whole  career. 
These  women,  not  sympathizing  with  the  fugitive  attach- 
ments of  such  men,  have  frequenth'  been  known  to  make 
away  with  their  paramours  who  have  jilted  them ;  and  jur- 
ies seldom  deal  harshlj^  with  them.  Can  money  pay  for 
the  destruction  of  a  woman's  character,  the  violation  of 
her  affections,  or  the  abandonment  of  her  offspring?  Few 
women  have  ever  lived  who  would  be  so  cruel  to  a  man 
under  similar  circumstances. 

The  more  we  understand  women,  the  more  we  must  re- 
spect them;  even  an  outcast  prostitute  has  much  genuine 
tenderness  and  love  in  her  nature ;  she  will  love  and  cher- 
ish her  illegitimate  child  of  uncertain  paternity,  spending 
her  all  on  it,  while  the  father  abandons  them  both,  flatter- 
ing himself  that  another  is  the  father  and  that  no  respon- 
sibilit}^  rests  on  him.  There  is  strong  reason  to  believe 
that,  after  all,  a  woman  is  the  finest  work  of  creation,  when 
we  consider  her  large  endowment  of  love  and  constancy 
and  faithfulness !  In  some  respects  she  is  the  weaker  ves- 
sel, and  is  often  led  astray  by  the  decoys  which  men  lay  for 
her  under  the  cloak  of  love  and  promise  of  future  repara- 
tion ;  but  we  must  blush  for  our  sex  w^hen  we  consider  the 
amount  of  harm  which  manj^  of  us  do,  men  being  almost 
invariably  the  aggressors,  and  licentious  men  far  outnum- 
bering the  women  who  are  impure. 

Men  have  sought  for  every  possible  device  whereby  they 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OP   IMPURITY.  107 

can  worship  at  the  shrine  of  Yeuus  without  contracting  dis- 
ease ;  but,  as  might  be  exj^ected,  their  efforts  have  resulted 
in  uniform  failure,  as  all  efforts  will  which  are  contrary  to 
natural  law.  Opponents  may  be  relied  upon  to  say  that 
there  is  nothing  unnatural  in  i:)romiscuous  fornication,  cit- 
ing the  lower  animals  as  examples ;  but  the  debased  ele- 
ment in  the  human  race  has  never  followed  a  course  in  any 
way  parallel  with  that  which  the  instincts  of  the  brutes 
dictate.  In  whatever  community  sexual  irregularities  are 
much  i:)ractised,  there  may  be  found  a  large  number  of  in- 
dividuals of  both  sexes  who  are  irritable  and  nervous 
wrecks  in  the  sexual  domain;  and  by  hereditary  trans- 
mission the  evil  increases,  by  a  process  somewhat  akin  to 
fermentation,  so  that  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  all  nat- 
uralness has  disapi)eared.  It  is  absurd  to  maintain  that 
the  methods  followed  by  the  prostitutes,  and  by  those  who 
patronize  them,  are  in  any  sense  natural,  because  the  fun- 
damental design  of  the  sexual  act — procreation — is  of  course 
not  in  view ;  but,  if  pregnancy  does  occur,  the  offs j)ring  is 
either  killed  by  abortion,  a  deed  not  known  among  ani- 
mals, or  abandoned  to  an  infamous  career.  Among  spar- 
rows, gorillas  or  human  beings,  marriage  is  essentially 
consummated  bj^  the  act  of  coiiulation,  which  naturally  is 
an  immensely  important  relationship,  implying  that  the 
male  shall  remain  near  the  mother,  tight  off  all  enemies 
from  the  home,  and  provide  food  until  both  the  mother 
and  offspring  are  able  to  dispense  with  his  services.  Spar- 
rows and  gorillas  need  no  religious  or  civil  performances 
to  bind  their  marriages;  and  if  men  were  as  natural  as 
they  are,  the  procreative  act  would  mean  much  more  than 
the  gratification  of  a  transient  physical  appetite.  If  we 
are  to  take  our  examples  from  a  scientific  study  of  natural 
history,  i.e.,  from  the  plant  and  animal  kingdoms,  we  shall 
find  no  argument  in  support  of  prostitution  or  of  any  sub- 
stitute akin  to  it;  while,  on  the  contrary,  we  &hall  see  that 
animals  and  plants  elaborate  male  and  female  fertilizing 


108  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

elements  which  are  brought  into  conjunction  solely  for  the 
purpose  of  re^jroductiou  of  species.  To  mankind  alone  is 
conceded  the  privilege — a  concession  which  we  grant  as 
legitimate — of  a  temperate  gratification  of  the  sexual  appe- 
tite in  the  marriage  relationship,  merely  for  the  sake  of 
pleasure. 

Many  of  the  governments  of  Europe  have  sought  to  les- 
sen the  ravages  of  syphilis  and  gonorrhoea  by  licensing 
houses  of  prostitution  and  enforcing  a  rigid  medical  in- 
spection of  the  women.  The  absurdities  of  this  system  of 
medical  inspection  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  another 
part  of  the  book.' 

It  is  common  for  men  to  j)ass  through  a  stage  of  frolic- 
some wildness  in  which  they  think  it  necessarj^  to  sow 
some  "wild  oats."  That  "boys  will  be  boys"  is  just  as 
physiological  as  that  colts  should  be  colts,  lambs  should 
be  lambs,  pui)i)ies  should  be  puppies,  or  that  kittens  should 
be  kittens.  There  is  an  unrestrainable  i^otentiality  in  the 
rich  young  blood  which  compels  the  healthy  young  of  all 
mammals  to  be  buoyant,  sportful,  nimble,  full  of  pranks, 
tricks,  gambols,  escapades  and  wildness.  Something  is 
wrong  when  a  hoj  or  young  man  does  not  feel  "  ripe  for 
exploits  and  mighty  enterprises,"  when  he  has  too  much 
of  the  old  man  in  him  and  takes  himself  too  seriously ; 
and  happy  is  the  mature  man  who  still  retains  some  of  this 
youthful,  sunshiny  principle  in  his  nature.  This  play- 
element  is  most  effective  in  keeping  the  mind  and  body 
refreshed  and  wholesome,  and  it  should  never  be  elimi- 
nated from  one's  life. 

But  though  it  is  necessary  for  the  mind  and  body  to 
relax  in  sport,  it  is  not  necessary  to  make  an  abuse  of  this 
sport;  the  "wild  oats"  s-hould  be  sown  in  light  soil,  where 
they  cannot  take  deep  root  and  rise  up  into  a  luxuriant 
crop,  and  no  consideration  should  allow  one  to  so  far  for- 
get himself  as  to  sow  tares  in  his  neighbor's  garden. 

'  Vide  Chapter  viL 


THE  CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  109 

All  kinds  of  manly  sport  antl  liealthful  amusement  should 
be  entered  into  lieart  and  soul,  but 

"Let's  teach  ourselves  that  honorable  stop. 

Not  to  outsport  discretion. " 

Othello,  Act  ii.,  Sc.  3. 

"  Make  BOt  thy  sport  abuses  :  for  the  fly 
That  feeds  on  dung  is  coloured  thereby. " 

Herbert,  "TempZe." 

Of  all  tlie  varieties  of  "wild  oats,"  this  sin  of  impurity 
far  exceeds  all  others  in  its  noxious  and  jioisonous  effects. 
For  a  man  who  is  ignorant  of  the  chances  of  acquiring  dis- 
ease, ignorant  of  all  the  physical  and  moral  consequences, 
to  put  himself  in  a  position  to  fall  into  such  a  trap  is  the 
height  of  unreason ;  even  animals,  as  Darwin  says,  "  learn 
caution  by  seeing  their  brethren  caught  or  jDoisoned."  ' 

One  may  sow  other  varieties  of  "wild  oats,"  perhaps, 
with  impunity ;  but  before  he  makes  himself  liable  to  the 
dreadful  consequences  inseparably  connected  with  licen- 
tiousness he  should  at  least  know  just  what  he  is  doing. 

If  a  man  through  his  licentiousness  burden  himself  with 
the  lasting  consequences  of  disease,  he  has  then  done  him- 
self a  grievous  injury  indeed ;  but  if,  by  reason  of  his  mis- 
guided passions,  he  get  and  beget  disease,  then  he  brings 
others  down  with  him  in  his  ruin,  destroying  not  o\Aj  their 
bodies,  but  also  disgracing  their  reputations.  The  way  to 
reform  is  much  easier  for  men  than  it  is  for  women,  and 
there  is  .no  excuse  if  they  do  not  mend  their  ways.  Occa- 
sionally' it  may  seem  almost  necessary  for  the  outcast  wom- 
an to  continue  in  sin,  because  she  earns  her  livelihood  by 
it ;  but  for  the  man,  who  spends  his  livelihood  on  it,  there 
is  never  Bjij  excuse  that  does  not  aggravate  the  fault. 

From  a  purely  selfish  standpoint  we  must  now  see  that 
it  is  most  inexpedient  to  exercise  the  sexual  functions  extra- 
matrimonially ;  for  the  dangers  which  beset  one  who  in- 
dulges in  sexual  irregularities  are  extraordinary,  disease 

'  "  Origin  of  Species"  ;  vide  also  "  The  Descent  of  Man, "  p.  80. 


110  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

being  practically  assured  to  every  man  who  exposes  him- 
self to  any  considerable  extent. 

Masturhation  is  so  well  understood  to  be  destructive  of 
every  quality  of  moral  and  physical  manhood  and  beauty 
that  its  devotee  never  thinks  of  acknowledging  his  defile- 
ment, rarelj^  even  to  his  physician.  In  that  it  is  a  crime 
against  self,  it  is  not  so  far-reaching  in  its  consequences  to 
society  unless  the  individual  marries.  It  jjroduces  its  own 
train  of  jjersonal  neuroses,  diseases  and  degenerations, 
injuring  the  character,  perverting  the  instincts,  ruining 
the  nervous  system,  and,  by  striking  at  the  very  founda- 
tions whence  love  conies,  it  unfits  the  victim  for  the  high 
functions  of  a  husband  and  father.  It  is  a  "  furious  task- 
master," universally  berated;  practised  only  in  secret,  it 
affords  a  ready  oi)i)ortunit3'  for  frequent  gratification.  All 
the  world  despises  a  masturbator,  as  he  does  himself. 

Fornication  is  a  perversion,  for  it  ignores  the  fundamen- 
tal consequences  of  the  i)rocreative  act — namely,  the  wel- 
fare of  offspring.  Besides  the  great  risk  of  initiating  a 
new  life,  or  of  acquiring  execrable  i)references  and  strange 
plies  or  inclinations,  it  necessarily'  affects  two  persons,  and 
thus  becomes  an  act  of  vital  importance  to  society.  To 
the  unenlightened  there  is  a  strong  fascination  about  the 
strange  woman  who  knows  how  by  her  dexterous  encour- 
agements and  wily  arts  to  inflame  a  man's  passion  hy  look, 
gesture  and  apparel ;  but  the  moth  fluttering  round  the  ex- 
posed electric  arc-light  is  hardly  more  in  danger  than  he 
who  ventures  to  cohabit  with  a  woman  who  is  loose  with 
her  favors. 

Adultery,  single  or  double,  partakes  of  all  the  foul  abom- 
inations of  fornication,  besides  profaning  the  covenant  of 
marriage,  bringing  a  ruin  of  distress  and  disease  into  the 
households,  and  being  a  civil  injury  punishable  by  fine  or 
imprisonment. 

Gonorrhoea  is  a  most  serious  disease  A\dth  a  notoriously 
uncertain  course,  many  cases  being  followed  by  remote 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  Ill 

and  lasting  results  which  never  can  be  cured,  and  it  is  the 
most  frequent  cause  of  blindness  in  children. 

Sypldlis  is  rampant  and  easily  acquired,  and  is  so  un- 
certain in  its  course  that  it  is  impossible  to  predict  in  what 
order  the  various  lesions  will  develop ;  and  it  is  furthermore 
impossible  at  any  given  time  to  assure  a  patient  that  he  is 
safe  from  its  subsequent  reaj)X3earance. 

Its  effects  are  liable  to  be  transmitted  to  the  third  and 
fourth  generation  of  one's  posterity;  one's  wife  is  liable  to 
be  inoculated;  it  is  an  important  factor  in  filling  asylums 
for  the  insane;  it  causes  paralysis,  heart  disease,  aneu- 
risms, diseases  of  the  eye,  brain,  kidneys,  liver,  bones, 
and  other  almost  innumerable  affections.  It  often  hor- 
ribly disfigures  the  countenance  with  permanent  scars; 
or,  by  corrosion  of  the  nasal  bones,  the  nose  may  fall  in, 
and  then  the  victim  is  labelled  with  his  disease  in  the  most 
prominent  part  of  his  anatom}'.  It  undermines  the  health 
and  increases  the  liability  to  take  diseases  of  all  kinds — 
consumption,  pneumonia,  heart  disease,  etc.  At  the  very 
best  the  victim  must  undergo  an  active,  expensive  and  irk- 
some course  of  treatment.  The  syphilitic  must  remain 
under  the  observation  of  his  i^hysician  for  a  lifetime ;  and 
he  need  expect  no  assurance  that  the  disease  may  not  again 
manifest  itself  at  some  period  in  his  life ;  nor  must  he  be 
offended  at  the  anxietj'  of  the  physician  for  the  welfare  of 
his  wife  and  children,  even  under  the  most  favorable  cir- 
cumstances which  prevail  in  himself. 

Oliancroids  are  local  lesions,  with  no  lasting  effects  on 
the  constitution,  but  they  leave  permanent  disfiguring 
scars  about  and  on  the  genitals. 

Leprosy  is  not  common  in  these  climes,  though  not  un- 
known. It  has  been  supposed  to  be  largely  a  venereal 
disease,  and  baffles  treatment. 

The  man  who  makes  the  gratification  of  the  lustful  appe- 
tite the  chief  end  of  his  life,  giving  himself  up  to  the  pur- 
suit of  it  without  restraint,  uncontrolled  by  the  law  of 


112  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

self-preservatiou,  and  deaf  to  reason  or  moralit}',  and  even 
the  man  wlio  partially  goes  in  for  such  a  course  of  life,  ex- 
poses himself  to  the  ravages  of  these  loathsome  diseases, 
being  led  on  to  cultivate  a  taste  which  perhaps  is  perverse 
by  inheritance,  but  which  is  more  often  unduly  stimulated 
by  the  influences  of  evil  associations,  b}^  'a  vicious  mis- 
information, or  b}^  the  erotic  pastimes  of  society.  T\Tiether 
he  is  ignorant  or  not  makes  not  the  slightest  difference  as  to 
the  consequences  of  his  disease,  and  in  any  event  he  has 
become  "  sin's  fool,"  with  jaded  or  over-stimulated  desires, 
perverted  tastes,  and  diseased  tissues — a  stranded  wreck, 
j)enitent  perhaps,  but  unfit  to  become  an  ancestor.  Fools 
beckon  on  fools,  the  moralist  and  hygienist  are  laughed  at, 
and  dunces  are  always  ready  to  follow  what  is  rei^resented 
to  their  willing  ears  as  the  "manly"  path  of  lust. 

Excuses  for  enjoying  the  delights  of  love  are  ready  to 
hand,  or  responsibility  can  be  stifled  and  c(  nscience  re- 
pressed b^'  stupef^ang  the  senses  with  alcohol;  and  then, 
as  when  the  "  governor"  of  a  steam-engine  is  disordered, 
the  mechanism  of  the  brain's  functions  is  confused,  and 
the  um-easoning  man  rushes  on  to  take  the  chances  of 
uncertainty. 

These  reckless  men,  while  unreformed,  are  harmful  citi- 
zens wherever  thej-  may  be.  "No  fornicator  hath  inher- 
itance in  the  kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ"  (Ephes.  v.  5),  and 
we  do  not  need  them  here. 

Seneca  said,  "ImjDurity  is  the  foremost  of  the  world's 
wickednesses";  Cicero  said,  "There  is  no  more  heinous 
pest  than  the  indulgence  of  uncleanliness" ;  and  St.  Isidore 
said,  "  Whatever  sin  you  name,  you  shall  find  nothing  equal 
to  this  crime."  The  voice  of  Nature  condemns  it  by  the 
obvious  consequences,  and  womankind  and  posterity  would 
say,  could  they  speak  out,  "  Oh,  have  mercy  on  us !" 

To  many  a  diseased  man  whose  reproductive  power  has 
expired  prematurely,  or  whose  generative  functions  are 
disordered,  the  light  of  life  seems  to  have  gone  out.     The 


THE   CONSEQUENCES  OF  IMPURITY.  113 

premature  extinction  of  virility  causes  siicli  deep  mental 
depression  and  sucli  despondency  tliat  the  wretched  man 
sees  everything  as  though  it  were  in  black,  and  is,  in  fact, 
in  mourning,  though  compelled  by  policy  to  wear  the 
"counterfeit  mask  of  dissimulation."  Very  often  such  a 
victim  is  led  to  commit  suicide,  or  becomes  hypochondri- 
acal or  insane. 

The  continent  man,  on  the  other  hand,  is  ready  at  any 
time  to  enter  the  bridal  chamber  as  pure  as  his  virgin  wife. 
His  powers  remain  normal,  and  he  is  not  degenerated  b}' 
wrong  methods  of  life  and  thought.  The  older  he  grows 
the  more  he  appreciates  that  his  virginity  is  a  pearl  of 
great  j)rice ;  he  is  a  strong  man,  with  his  appetites  under 
the  control  of  his  higher  nature ;  his  speech  and  behavior 
are  not  likely  to  be  coarse  and  blasphemous,  and  his  tastes 
are  not  toward  filthiness  in  thought,  desire  or  action.  He 
is  worthy  to  be  a  lover; — 

"  O  happy  she  whose  lips  he  presses  ! 
O  happy  slie  whom  he  caresses  !" 

He  walks  the  earth  with  a  nobler  tread  for  his  cleanness 
of  physique  and  mind  and  heart;  there  is  no  uncertain 
paternity  haunting  him,  and  he  has  pushed  no  woman 
further  down  into  the  mire,  but  has  rather  stretched  forth 
his  gallant  arm  to  save. 

He  is  what  the  Latin  word  "i-/r"  conveys  to  us,  rather 
than  a  mere  "  homo''' — he  is  virile,  fit  to  be  a  lover,  hus- 
band, father  and  good  citizen,  and  worthy  to  be  a  knight 
at  King  Arthur's  Round  Table.  The  chasteness  of  his  man- 
ner of  life  never  causes  him  or  others  either  physical  or 
mental  disease,  or  any  impairment  of  manly  quality. 

If  x>eradventure  any  disease  might  be  conceived  of  as 
being  attributable  to  his  chastity,  it  would  be  immeasur- 
ably less  harmful  to  himself,  to  his  wife  and  to  his  off- 
spring than  an^^  of  the  diseases  of  the  unchaste.  But  the 
loss  of  virile  power  and  other  harms  that  are  predicted  for 
him  by  the  ignorant  never  come. 
8 


114  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

He  lias  injured  no  other  person,  nor  has  lie  been  foolish 
enough  to  corrupt  his  own  body — realizing  that  it  is  sacred 
beyond  anything  else  of  which  he  knows. 

Little  danger  is  there  that  his  progeny  will  be  criminals, 
liars,  thieves,  sensualists  or  weaklings.  He  is  in  accord 
with  Nature,  with  human  and  moral  law,  and  with  love — 
"the  greatest  thing  in  the  world."  He  elevates  the  foulest 
society  without  being  contaminated  by  it ;  there  is  no  scent 
of  loathsomeness  about  him ;  and  every  tailless  fox  inwardlj' 
envies  him.  His  passions  and  powers  are  pure,  full  and 
strong,  without  unnaturally  occupying  his  mind,  and  when 
he  marries  they  will  respond  with  perfect  activities.  He 
is  apt  to  be  athletic,  healthy  and  vigorous,  partly  because 
he  likes  the  kind  of  life  which  makes  him  so,  and  partlj^ 
because  that  mode  of  living  conduces  to  cleanly  manliness. 
This  is  the  onlj'  kind  of  man  to  be — a  man  who  liaa  not 
"profaned  the  God-given  strength,  and  marred  the  lofty 
line"  of  his  ancestry,  nor  preyed  upon  and  blasted  his  own 
hopes  of  being  the  father  of  a  fair  lineage. 

"  He  wlio  in  Pleasure's  downy  arms 
Ne'er  lost  his  health,  or  yoiithful  charms, 
A  hero  lives  ;  and  justly  can 
Exclaim,  'In  me  behold  a  man  !' 

"He  prospers  like  the  slender  reed 
Whose  top  waves  gently  o'er  the  mead  ; 
And  moves,  such  blessings  virtue  follow, 
In  health  and  beauty  an  Apollo. 

"That  power  divine,  which  him  inspires. 
His  breast  with  noblest  passions  fires  ; 
These  heavenward  soar  with  eagle  flight, 
And  spurn  the  cold,  dark  realms  of  night. 

"  So  full  of  majesty,  a  god, 
Shall  earth  alone  be  his  abode  ? 
With  dignity  he  steps,  he  stands. 
And  nothing  fears  ;  for  he  commands. 


THE   CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  115 

"Like  drops  drawn  from  the  crystal  stream, 
His  eyes  witli  pearty  brilliance  beam  : 
With  blushing  signs  of  health  o'erspread. 
His  cheeks  surpass  the  morning's  red. 

"  The  fairest  of  the  female  train 
For  him  shall  bloom,  nor  bloom  in  vain  ; 
O  happy  she  whoes  lips  he  presses  1 
O  happy  she  whom  he  caresses  !"' 

The  sufferings  of  tlie  continent  man,  tlioiigh  constantly 
requiring  fortitude,  do  not  compare  with  those  of  the  in- 
continent. If  a  man  has  been  properly  brought  uj),  pro- 
tected from  evil  practices,  and  not  early  debased  by  sensu- 
ality, his  habits  become  fixed,  and  he  prizes  his  health 
and  virility  too  much  to  put  them  in  jeoi)ardy.  Love  is  a 
necessity  of  man's  nature  as  he  is  constituted,  and  a  i^ure 
attachment  for  a  woman  whom  he  hopes  some  day  to  make 
his  wife  is  most  desirable. 

The  intensity  of  the  longing  for  sexual  gratification  is 
readily  given  as  an  excuse  for  satisfying  that  craving;  but, 
outside  of  marriage,  wilful  compliance  with  these  desires 
stifles  the  primitive,  fundamental  purposes  of  Nature, 
which  has  designedly  conferred  upon  every  healthy  indi- 
vidual of  either  sex  a  lavish,  bounteous  and  almost  su- 
perabundant endowment  of  sexual  longing,  the  object  of 
which  is  to  render  certain  the  perpetuation  of  the  species. 
Throughout  all  Nature  this  is  seen  as  a  passion,  and  no 
apology  need  be  offered  for  saying  that  chaste  men  and 
women  experience  this  sexual  passion  in  fuller  force  than 
the  unchaste,  but  not  as  sensuality. 

This  liveliness  of  sexual  feeling  makes  a  man  and  a  wo- 
man unite  themselves  in  marriage ;  it  is  the  very  essence 
of  true  conjugal  love — the  love-compelling  princij)le  of 
Nature. 

The  silent  music  of  the  boy  Cupid  strikes  its  sweet  notes 

'  Burger ;  quoted  by  Hufeland,  p.  225.  Old  German,  translated 
bj'  Erasmus  Wilson,  M.  D. 


116  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

everywhere  wliere  sexual  power  remains,  and  without  it 
the  race  woukl  cease  to  exist.  As  Grant  Allen  says :  "  To 
it  we  owe  the  paternal,  maternal  and  marital  relations; 
the  growth  of  the  affections,  the  love  of  little  pattering  feet 
and  baby  laughter;  the  home,  with  all  the  dear  associa- 
tions that  cluster  around  it;  in  one  word,  the  heart  and 
all  that  is  best  in  it."  ' 

So  we  actually  boast  that  the  chaste,  and  that  they  only, 
feel  this  sexual  longing  in  full  and  natural  intensity,  being 
tempted  like  those  who  fall,  and  exijerienciug  unmistakable 
yearnings  which  are  not  shameworthy,  but  physiological. 
But  rational  men  and  women,  observant  of  natural  law  and 
of  their  brethren  who  have  been  trapped  or  poisoned,  re- 
strain themselves  from  indulging  in  unnatural  and  impure 
practices,  because  they  regard  their  own  bodies  and  their 
progeny  as  the  most  sacred  things  in  the  world. 

The  unchaste  man  j^i'ostitutes  and  subverts  his  purest 
and  most  energizing  incentive  to  marriage  by  otherwise 
gratifying  his  longings;  and  he  furthermore  defrauds  some 
true  woman  of  her  legitimate  chance  of  marriage  by  his 
sul)stitution  of  a  selfish  sensuality  for  the  highest  honor 
of  husbandship  and  paternity. 

It  surely  camiot  be  that  he  knows  what  he  is  doing  in 
going  contrary  to  the  immutable  laws  of  Nature,  which 
never  fail  to  punish  artificial  infringements  upon  her  rights 
in  a  manner  quite  api^reciable  to  our  earthly  senses. 

It  is  not  a  light  sin,  this  perversion  of  impure  sexual 
gratification,  but  the  most  heinous  offence  against  Nature — 
o]iposiug  her  prolific  aims,  begetting  loathsome  diseases, 
blighting  marriages,  tainting  offspring,  and  assuring  an- 
guish and  heartrending  sorrows;  and,  furthermore,  it  is 
the  gravest  offence  against  religion ;  for  we  can  clearly  see 
that  if  a  man  is  so  crimiuall}'  and  voluntarily  unfit  for  this 
world,  he  rightly  has  no  inheritance  in  the  Holy  City. 

To  an}^  one  who  may  assert  that  there  are  two  sides  to 
'  "The  New  Hedonism." 


THE  CONSEQUENCES   OF  IMPURITY.  117 

every  important  question,  we  reply  that  in  tliis  case  there 
is  no  question  and  no  room  for  argument.  The  outcome 
of  all  records,  past  and  present,  shows  that  the  man  who 
indulges  in  sexual  irregularities  is  practically  certain  to 
sooner  or  later  undergo  suffering  so  grave  as  to  far  out- 
weigh any  possible  selfish  gratification. 

The  moral  sentiments  of  a  community  fashion  the  cus- 
toms and  habits  of  its  individuals ;  and  those  who  advocate 
perversions  of  the  sexual  functions  which  are  at  variance 
with  natural  law  and  hygiene  and  morality,  must  be  held 
accountable  for  the  physical,  mental  and  moral  retrogres- 
sion and  decline  of  human  progress ;  for  they  clash  against 
every  argument  which  i^leads  for  the  welfare  of  the  fathers 
and  mothers  and  children,  and  trifiingly  antagonize  scien- 
tific facts  which  are  absolutely  demonstrated  to  be  essential 
for  the  promise  of  the  soundness  of  the  race.  Morality  and 
virtue  are  the  machinery  which  render  impossible  the  tri- 
umph of  the  sensualists  and  barbarians. 

A  few  men  are  naturally  bad,  deaf  to  the  soft  voice  of 
Nature,  and  with  little  sentiment  of  justice  or  humanity ; 
but  an  acquaintance  with  the  tremendous  personal  evils 
which  a  life  of  lust  entails  might  be  presumed  to  restrain 
them  in  their  mad  and  wicked  careers,  if  they  have  not 
entirely  become  "sin's  fools." 

We  look  almost  solely  to  the  stupendous  force  of  the 
sexual  instinct,  rightfully  guided  by  the  harmony  of  moral- 
ity and  science,  to  advance  civilization  to  its  most  fruitful 
and  its  highest  destiny. 


CHAPTEE  IV. 

Woman,  ajstd  the  Unmaklikess  of  Degrading  Her. 

The  contemplation  of  womankind  as  a  theme  for  study 
cannot  fail  to  render  any  right-minded  man  respectfully 
enthusiastic  over  their  qualities  and  functions,  and  to  im- 
press upon  him  the  significance  of  the  reciprocal  relation- 
ship between  the  sexes,  and  the  preponderance  of  moral 
obligation  on  his  part. 

The  role  of  the  Male  in  Nature  is  secondary  to  that  of  the 
Female,  for  she  is  the  Mother — the  Generatrix — of  all  ani- 
mate beings ;  and  it  is  more  important  for  us  to  have  highly 
endowed  mothers  than  fathers  with  like  characteristics. 
Woman  represents  the  prolific  energy  most  conspicuoush', 
while  Man  merely  has  the  power  of  generating  or  giving 
origin  to  life;  it  is  the  female  parent  who  perfects  and 
brings  forth  the  new  life  and  nourishes  it  for  many  months 
after  parturition,  and  it  is  the  male  parent's  duty  to  pro- 
tect and  provide  for  tliem  both. 

All  the  activities  of  men,  with  their  superior  inventive 
and  creative  genius,  lead  to  no  racial  imj^rovement  what- 
ever unless  they  are  directed  toward  the  betterment  of  pos- 
terity, the  welfare  of  contemporaneous  womanhood,  and  an 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  stirx)iculture,  which  aims  to  im- 
prove the  nobility  of  the  race.  Reason  tells  us  to  guard, 
protect  and  reverence  this  x^otentialit}'  of  womankind  for 
motherhood,  which  makes  them  the  holiest  of  beings ;  or 
at  the  very  least  to  bear  ourselves  toward  them  with  the 
same  equality  and  consideration  which  is  universally  shown 
b}^  all  animals  toward  their  females. 

"They  say  that  man  is  mighty, 
He  governs  land  and  sea, 


120  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

He  wields  a  mighty  sceptre 
O'er  lesser  powers  that  be  : 
But  a  mightier  power  and  stronger 
Man  from  his  throne  has  hurled, 
For  the  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 
Is  the  hand  that  rules  the  world."  ' 

So  the  very  liopes  of  mankind  hang  on  our  fidelity 
toward  women  and  our  care  of  them.  The  distinctively 
womanly  qualities,  which  shine  forth  as  rays  from  heaven 
in  their  souls,  may  be  quite  accurately  expressed  by  the 
beautiful  words,  love,  tenderness,  gentleness,  forgiveness, 
mercy,  pity,  compassion,  grace,  purity,  affection,  sym- 
pathy, charity,  self-sacrifice,  devotion  and  trustfulness; 
while  bravery-,  boldness,  strength,  jiugnacity,  courage, 
pluck,  self-reliance,  large-hearteduess,  philanthropy,  jus- 
tice and  magnanimity  may  be  styled  the  attributes  of  ideal 
and  robust  men. 

Both  sexes,  at  this  stage  of  moral  development  in  the 
world's  history,  should  have  in  common,  as  virtues  of 
transcendent  importance,  a  fervent  love  of  the  truth,  of 
patriotism,  of  chastity,  and  a  feeling  of  obligation  to  do 
good.  Moderation  in  any  of  these  qualities  is  never 
praised.  It  is  universally  admitted  that  our  gentler  com- 
panions "ijour  celestial  balm"  on  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  in  whatever  relationship  they  may  be  to  us,  whether 
as  sisters,  daughters,  wives  or  mothers,  they  have  well 
earned  the  title  of  "ministering  angels"  to  mankind. 
"  Everj'  mother's  son"  of  us  is  under  obligation  to  the  sex, 
and  we  may  well  pause  to  consider  and  prevent,  as  far  as 
lies  in  our  power,  the  damnable  consignment  of  a  multi- 
tude of  women,  mostly  young  girls  with  sweetly  attractive 
graces,  to  the  vilest  useo  known  to  man  on  earth,  or  con- 
ceivable in  hell. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  essentially  distinctive  attri- 
butes of  women,  which  we  regard  as  heavenly  qualities  of 

»  Wallace,  "What  Rules  the  World." 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER,    121 

mind  and  heart,  would  be  termed  the  symbols  of  strength, 
were  society  perfect;  but  in  the  hurly-burly  of  a  wicked 
world  they  are  in  reality  marked  elements  of  weakness, 
readily  overcome  by  brutality,  falsehood  and  imj)osition. 

Man  with  his  rougher  qualities  is  fitted  to  stand,  and  re- 
sembles the  oak  that  resists,  while  woman  with  her  gentler 
and  yielding  nature,  being  fitted  to  lean,  is  too  often  like 
the  reed  that  bends,  and  may  easily  be  trami)led  in  the  mire. 

And  yet  there  is  a  bond  of  relationship  between  men  and 
women  which  is  totallj^  uuai:)preciated  by  the  mass  of  peo- 
ple, and  credible  to  those  only  who  have  pursued  anatomi- 
cal and  phj^siological  studies.  Embryologically,  both  the 
feminine  and  the  male  tyj^es  are  fulfilled  in  the  person  of 
each  individual,  i.e.,  up  to  the  end  of  the  third  month  of 
intrauterine  life  the  embryo  has  the  sexual  glands  of  both 
sexes  so  perfectly  developed  that  its  future  gender  is  still 
indistinctive  and  uncertain ;  and  every  man  and  every  wo- 
man forever  retains  in  rudimentary  form  the  traces  of  the 
sexual  organs  of  the  opposite  sex, 

Bemember,  then,  that  the  human  sexual  organs,  as  well 
as  those  of  all  mammals,  are  thus  bisexual,  and  that  the 
mono-sexual  tj^pe  begins  to  develop  only  at  the  end  of  the 
third  month  of  foetal  life. 

Krafft-Ebing  '  points  out  the  possibility  that,  under  x)atli- 
ological  conditions,  the  cerebral  and  spinal  centres  which 
correspond  with  these  rudimentary^  sexual  residua  may 
exert  an  influence  on  the  dispositions  of  certain  individ- 
uals, so  that  they  have  the  feelings  of  the  opposite  sex  and 
a  sexual  inclination  toward  individuals  of  their  own  gen- 
der, while  yet  possessing  well-formed  sexual  organs. 

Though  it  is  probabl}^  never  true  that  a  man's  skull  can 
contain  the  brain  of  a  woman,  yet  it  is  highly  probable 
that  there  are  rudimentary  areas  in  the  brains  of  all  in- 
dividuals which  correspond  with  the  rudimentary  rem- 
nants of  the  sexual  organs  of  the  opposite  sex,  and  that 
*  "  Psychopathia  Sexualis, "  p.  237  et  seq. 


122  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

these  areas  in  tlie  brain  substance  maj^  exert  an  influence 
on  the  nervous  system. 

The  possibilities  of  the  female  type  are  represented  in 
every  man  by  embryological  residua,  such  as  the  Miillerian 
ducts,  and  the  sinus  pocularis  or  ideras  mascuUnus ;  the 
female  has  the  iMvovarium,  which  is  the  analogue  of  the 
male  epididymis  ;  and  so  also  the  clitoris  is  the  homologue 
of  the  penis,  the  labia  majora  of  the  scrotum,  and  the 
ovaries  and  testicles  are  developed  from  a  common  germ- 
epithelium. 

No  mdisputable  instance  of  true  hermaphroditism  has 
ever  been  recorded,  each  individual  being  essentially  male 
or  female ;  but  cases  are  numerous  in  which  there  are  ap- 
proximations toward  both  sexes,  with  notable  alterations 
of  the  figure,  gait  and  disposition. 

Externally  a  man  has  mammae,  or  breasts,  with  well-de- 
veloped nipi)les,  and  daring  early  babyhood  it  is  quite 
commonly  possible  for  nurses  to  express  milk  from  the 
breasts  of  infants,  this  being  as  frequently  observed  in  one 
sex  as  the  other.  At  puberty,  also,  milk  can  sometimes  be 
expressed  from  the  male  mammae ;  and  "  in  man  and  some 
other  male  mammals  these  organs  have  been  known  occa- 
sionally to  become  so  well  develojied  during  maturity  as 
to  yield  a  fair  supply  of  milk."  * 

Before  i^uberty,  both  the  boy  and  the  girl  are  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  of  the  neuter  gender,  and  their  physi- 
cal and  mental  characters  are  not  difi'erentiated  in  any 
marked  degree  until  the  development  of  their  sexual  organs 
has  caused  them  to  diverge  from  their  former  somewhat 
parallel  course.  One  cannot,  if  he  would,  prevent  people 
saying,  "  He  is  so  like  his  mother,"  or  "  so  like  his  sister" ; 
and  it  is  futile  for  men  to  refuse  to  acknowledge  some  in- 
fusion of  the  womanly  characteristics  into  their  natures, 
and  reprehensible  for  them  to  b&  ashamed  of  their  mater- 
nal inheritance.  "  A  son,  who  cannot  in  the  nature  of  the 
>  Darwin,  "Tlie  Descent  of  Man,"  p.  163. 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    123 

case  exhibit  tbera  himself,  still  conveys  his  mother's  spe- 
cial feminine  qualities  to  his  daughter,  having  them  latent 
in  him,  as  he  has  in  him  the  rudimentary  representatives 
of  the  special  female  organs ;  in  like  manner,  a  daughter 
conveys  her  father's  special  masculine  qualities  to  her  son, 
having  them  latent  in  her,  as  she  has  latent  in  her  the 
rudimentary  special  male  organs.  Everybody,  male  or 
female,  is  essentially  male  and  female."  ' 

Strong  men  have  fainted,  and  you  may  faint;  strong 
men  have  wept,  and  you  may  weep,  as  did  Exeter  over  the 
death  of  Suffolk : 

"The  pretty  and  sweet  manner  of  it  forced 
Those  waters  from  me  which  I  would  have  stopp'd ; 
But  I  had  not  so  nmch  of  man  in  me, 
And  all  my  mother  came  into  mine  eyes 
And  gave  me  up  to  tears. "  ^ 

Shakesi)eare's  keen  perception  did  not  fail  to  notice  the 
womanly  inheritance  of  men,  and  it  might  be  that  we 
should  find  the  source  of  these  "  briny  rivulets"  in  the  fem- 
inine residua  which  are  latent  within  us. 

Men  may  have  all  these  attributes  of  love,  tenderness, 
charity,  gentleness,  chastity,  etc.,  which  are  conceded  to 
be  womanly,  without  being  effeminate ;  and  tender  women 
often  show  "a  front  of  iron,"  and  more  pluck,  courage  and 
great-heartedness  than  the  best  of  men. 

A  Jewish  rabbi  jjoetically  said,  "The  Lord  cannot  be 
everywhere,  so  He  made  mothers."  On  account  of  their 
mission  of  motherhood  we  must  regard  women  as  holj^ 
and  may  his  name  be  anathema  who  harms  them  by 
treacherj^  deceit,  compulsion  or  seduction ! 

The  love  for  one's  mother  is  so  spontaneous  and  natural 

that  one  hardly  stops  to  consider  why  he  loves  her.     It  is 

because  she  harbored  him  for  ten  lunar  months  within  her 

womb,  suckled  him  at  her  breasts  for  many  months  more, 

^  Henry  Maudsley,   "  Pathology  of  the  Mind, "  p.  49. 
'Eenry  V.,  Activ.,  Sc.  6. 


124  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS 

educated  liim  at  lier  knee,  sang  sweet  songs  of  comfort 
liim,  and  kissed  away  liis  bruises  and  sorrows,  gave  joy 
and  peace  to  his  young  soul,  and  pointed  him  to  ways 
which  lead  to  immortality ;  because  she  was  pure  and  good, 
and  loved  him  so  much  that  she  would  have  given  her  all 
for  him,  or  have  died  for  him. 

On  account  of  their  interdependence,  the  tie  betw^een 
mother  and  child  is,  for  some  years  at  least,  very  much 
more  intimate  than  that  which  exists  between  father  and 
child;  and  lor  many  years  after  infaDcy  the  child  will,  as 
a  rule,  run  instinctively  to  its  mother  in  j^refereuce  to  its 
father. 

Therefore,  recollecting  this,  men  resent  nothing  so  much 
as  a  slur  on  their  mothers,  and  revere  their  names  as  holy 
things.  And  yet  some  of  these  same  men  will — thought- 
lessly let  us  hope — degrade  the  holiest  functions  of  women, 
and  bastardize  their  own  offspring,  who  are  allowed  to  grow 
up  as  rank  weeds,  with  nothing  but  bitterness  in  the  place 
of  joy,  and  coarse  names  of  rex)roach  instead  of  honor. 

There  is  a  widespread  misconception  among  many  per- 
sons that  a  woman  is  naturally  delicate  and  w^eak,  and  that 
her  chief  weapon  of  defence  is  the  "  unansw-erable  tear" 
which  serves  for  her  shield  and  spear.  But  there  are  some 
considerations  which  argue  for  her  excelling  in  some 
points  of  strength,  as  she  does  in  beauty.  Like  many 
an  unsuspecting  and  honest  man  w^ho  fails  to  succeed  in 
life  bv  the  usual  worldlv  standard  of  success,  so  also  a 
woman  is  handicapped  by  her  good  faith,  and  by  her 
tendency  to  believe  too  much  and  reh^  too  much  on  the 
promises  of  men.  Her  faith,  which  rightl}-  should  be  re- 
garded as  an  element  of  strength,  too  often  leads  to  her 
ruin ;  her  unsuspecting  nature  being  little  adapted  to  pro- 
tect her  from  the  trickery  and  deceitful  declarations  which 
are  so  often  made  under  the  guise  of  love. 

The  triumph  of  civilization  is  the  predominance  of  moral 
over  physical  force;  and  until  this  is  fully  accomplished 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    125 

many  women  can  have  no  chance  to  withstand  the  wicked- 
ness of  those  men  who  are  brutally  sacrificing  snch  of  them 
as  are  in  need  and  unprotected  for  the  physical  gratifica- 
tion of  a  depraved  lust. 

Men  are  superior  in  the  coarser  grades  of  strength ;  and 
woman's  only  hope  lies  in  that  kind  of  civilization  in  which 
brutality  is  repressed  by  reason,  and  justice,  and  consider- 
ation for  the  welfare  of  others. 

But  even  in  j^hysical  strength  women  are  easily  the 
equals  of  men  in  staging  power,  for  the  average  of  their 
lives  is  longer.  "Women  are  not  only  longer-lived  than 
men,  but  have  greater  powers  of  resistance  to  misfortune 
and  deep  grief.  This  is  a  well-known  law. "  '  They  endure 
accidents  and  severe  surgical  operations  with  more  forti- 
tude and  with  better  chances  of  recovery  than  men,  and 
they  were  foremost  in  the  ranks  of  the  martyrs."  They 
seem  to  withstand  the  vicissitudes  of  temperature  better 
than  men;  and  it  is  noticeable  that  more  blankets  are 
required  in  the  male  wards  than  in  the  female  wards  of 
hospitals. 

One  or  two  nights'  loss  of  sleep  will  exhaust  a  man, 
while  a  woman  can  remain  almost  continuously  by  the  sick- 
bed day  and  night  for  long  periods  of  time ;  and  it  is  un- 
questionable that  the  power  of  endurance  of  the  male  nurse 
cannot  compete  with  that  of  the  woman  nurse  in  a  pro- 
tracted illness. 

When  the  shock  and  storm  of  adversity  come  to  a  fam- 
ily, sweeping  away  the  home  and  all  sources  of  supi^ort, 
it  is  very  commonly  observed  that  the  man  founders  under 
the  stress  of  the  calamity,  giving  up  all  heart;  and  in  such 
instances,  when  heroic  strength  and  fortitude  are  called 
for,  it  is  not  infrequent  for  a  gently  nurtured  wife  or 
daughter  to  put  aside  her  finery  and  come  to  the  salvation 
of  her  family  by  her  active  exertions.     In  a  quiet  way  wom- 

'  Lombroso,  "The  Female  OflFender,"  p.  125. 
*  Vide  Lecky,   "History  of  European  Morals." 


126  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

en  show  these  caijabilities  for  eudurance,  and  rise  mag- 
nificently in  the  face  of  the  greatest  calamities  and  trials. 

"  The  tasks  which  demand  a  powerful  development  of 
muscle  and  bone,  and  the  resulting  capacity  for  intermit- 
tent spurts  of  energy,  involving  corresponding  periods  of 
rest,  fall  to  the  man;  the  care  of  the  children  and  all  the 
very  various  industries  which  radiate  from  the  hearth,  and 
which  call  for  an  expenditure  of  energy  more  continuous, 
but  at  a  lower  tension,  fall  to  the  woman."  ' 

On  the  race-course  the  mares  have  been  quite  able  to 
hold  the  laurels  for  their  sex;  the  she-bear  when  bereaved 
of  her  whelps  is  terrible  beyond  the  fury  of  her  mate,  and 
the  simple  word  "  mother"  applied  to  any  animal  means 
"hands  off." 

Women,  though  hampered  by  a  greater  complication  of 
sexual  structure  and  function,  nevertheless  stand  the  wear 
and  tear  of  life  fully  as  well  as,  or  even  better  than,  men ; 
they  live  longer,  and,  if  the}'  raise  families,  do  more  work. 
They  arrive  at  puberty  and  maturity  earlier  than  men,  and 
there  is  far  greater  activity  in  their  sexual  spheres ;  they 
become  women  before  boys  become  men ;  their  longing  for 
parentage  is  greater,  so  that  even  as  children  the}'  play  with 
dolls,  and  throughout  life  they  continue  to  be  fond  of  chil- 
dren. Unconsciously  a  woman  has  a  desire  for  maternity 
and  an  eagerness  for  a  romance ;  and  her  life  is  continually 
dominated  by  her  physical  sex,  whether  she  is  married  or 
single,  though  the  sensual  longing  is  far  less  energetically 
manifested  in  her  than  in  man,  and  not  so  liable  to  overflow 
into  wrong  channels. 

It  is  essential  for  a  woman  to  have  a  greater  knowledge 
of  sexual  hj^giene — of  menstruation,  pregnancy  and  lacta- 
tion— while  sex  need  exercise  comparatively  little  influence 
over  a  man's  thought  and  attention.  A  clean,  pure,  un- 
defiled  sexual  feeling  is  thus  a  fundamental  law  in  woman's 
nature,  for  love  is  her  element ;  and  her  sexual  feeling  is  by 
'  Havelock  Ellis,  "  Mau  and  Woman, "  p.  2. 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    127 

no  means  a  liglit  tiling,  but  an  inflexible  yearning,  normalh', 
toward  an  honorable  maternity,  which  impulse  is  infinitely 
higher  in  rank  than  the  sensual  passion  of  the  libertine  and 
seducer.  Devotion  is  an  attribute  of  strength,  and  women 
have  that  in  greater  degree  than  men ;  love  is  also  an  attri- 
bute of  strength  imjilying  ardor,  and  for  it  a  woman  will 
brave  all  dangers,  or  bear  disgrace,  and  victimize  her- 
self, by  reason  of  her  very  nature,  for  the  welfare  of  the 
beloved  object.  Everything  is  sacrificed  for  this  love 
toward  her  offspring  and  partner,  whether  in  honor  or  dis- 
honor. 

On  the  other  hand,  sensual  men  follow  an  unnatural  role 
and  display  a  cowardly  weakness  when  they  stain  their 
own  offspring  with  the  bastard's  inheritance,  and  when 
they  give  them  mothers  wdth  tarnished  names ;  they  fulfil 
no  duties  to  their  illegitimate  children,  usually  abandoning 
both  them  and  the  mothers,  or  at  most  contributing  in  a 
niggardly  way  to  their  support,  but  not  at  the  loss  of  a 
single  jot  of  their  own  comfort  or  advantage.  The  out- 
raged mother,  by  reason  of  the  strength  of  her  maternal 
love,  will,  however,  expend  her  all  for  her  child  of  shame — 
endure  infamy,  shield  it,  and  fight  for  it  as  will  a  tigress 
for  her  cubs. 

Outside  of  the  marriage  relationship,  no  man  can  indulge 
in  the  act  of  love  without  offending  the  dictates  of  his 
moral  nature  and  of  his  manhood.  Like  a  coward  the 
fallen  man  slinks  away  from  the  disgrace  and  responsibil- 
ity of  his  act,  refusing  to  acknowledge  his  own  child,  and 
abandoning  to  her  deplorable  infamy  the  lovable  woman, 
thinking  to  place  a  market  value  on  her  shame. 

In  trifles  many  men  display  before  the  gentler  sex  gal- 
lantries fit  for  the  drawing-room,  but  in  the  great  affairs  of 
life  this  conduct  is  often  put  aside,  and  those  women  who 
are  unprotected  are  driven  to  the  wall,  being  the  "  weaker 
vessels"  indeed  in  the  infamous  work  of  marring  Creation's 
plan  and  perverting  the  promptings  of  Nature.     Men  de- 


128  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

sire  outward  decorations  and  recognition  of  their  noble- 
ness and  grandeur ;  if  tliere  is  a  great  effort  called  for,  or 
a  wild  beast  to  figlit,  the  man  goes  out  to  do  battle  for  the 
family,  and  never  tires  of  hearing  his  wife  and  children 
and  neighbors  praise  and  honor  his  heroism,  and  call  him 
a  strong,  noble  man.  He  likes  jjraise,  flattery,  and  an  ap- 
preciated  record,  and  desires  orders  and  medals  for  his 
service  to  such  a  degree  that  he  is  unique  in  the  animal 
kingdom  as  a  medal-wearing  animal. 

Women,  on  the  other  hand,  are  heroic  from  love,  and 
content  themselves  with  the  inner  consciousness  of  right — 
not  receiving  and  not  expecting  fame  or  ai:>plause,  and  get- 
ting no  outward  decorations  for  their  kind  of  heroism. 

Women  say  that  men  are  brave  and  strong ;  men  control 
literature  and  human  activities,  agree  with  the  women  in 
their  judgments,  decorate  each  other  with  honors  and 
medals,  and,  with  a  questionable  magnanimity,  have  styled 
themselves  the  strong  sex !  And  3'et  in  sexual  matters  they 
have  in  many  instances  acted  the  i)art  of  cowards  and  pol- 
troons, heaping  infamy  on  the  illegitimate  child  who  is 
absolutely  innocent  of  all  harm,  outcastiug  the  mother  who 
comes  next  in  innocence,  and  in  a  large  measure  absolving 
themselves,  who  are  the  principals  in  the  appalling  dis- 
aster. 

Man,  who  has  a  predominant  position  in  the  world,  is 
both  "the  glorj^  and  the  shame  of  the  universe,"  the  latter 
characteristic  being  very  largely  due  to  the  perversion  of 
his  sexual  role  in  Nature. 

The  foregoing  observations  of  course  have  their  excep- 
tions, and,  after  all,  men  and  women  are  brothers  and 
sisters;  the  man's  mother  was  a  woman,  and  from  her  he 
inherits  beauties  of  character,  and  the  woman's  father  was 
a  man,  and  from  him  she  inherits  ennobling  qualities.  The 
two  sexes,  in  fact,  have  more  in  common  than  is  dreamed 
of  in  the  philosophy  of  a  thoughtless  person. 

But  yet  the  two  sexes  are  divergent  in  physique,  func- 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.   129 

tions,  education  and  inclinations,  for  "a  man  is  a  man 
even  to  liis  thumbs,  and  a  woman  is  a  woman  down  to  lier 
little  toes."' 

Normal  man  lias  a  profound  chivalrous  feeling  for  wom- 
an which  is  far  superior  to  the  mere  equality  shared  by 
animals  with  their  females ;  and  in  any  shijiwreck  he  will 
unhesitatingly  say,  "Women  and  children  first!"  protect- 
ing them  at  every  cost  to  himself,  and  shielding  them  from 
imposition  and  degradation. 

But  if  corrosive  impurity  is  harbored  in  his  breast,  this 
natural  nobility  of  character  becomes  blighted,  and  his  acts 
of  gallantry  are  nothing  but  sui)erficialities. 

Candor  compels  us  to  admit  that  innumerable  men  have 
become  so  infamously  perverted  from  the  true  spirit  of 
manliness  that  they  harm,  destroy,  and  tyrannize  over  that 
portion  of  womankind  who  are  under  no  i)rotection,  and 
who,  by  reason  of  their  ignorance  of  the  world,  are  unequal 
to  the  task  of  meeting  them  in  competition.  Women  rarely 
harm  men,  but  men  are  rough  playfellows  to  them— shame 
on  our  sex!  Since  history  has  been  recorded,  men  have 
been  rough  to  them ;  but  shall  we  in  this  glorious  age  of 
enlightenment  continue  such  an  infamous  business?  What 
true  man  can  join  in  such  sjiort ! 

Effeminacj'  is  not  to  be  attributed  to  the  i:)ure,  chaste 
men  who  are  sympathetic  and  tender  and  valiant  in  their 
protection  of  women  and  their  ofi'spring,  nor  can  such  men 
see  any  excuse  for  the  unmauliness  of  those  who  sport  with 
women's  most  priceless  jjossessions  by  pushing  them  down 
into  the  river  of  filth,  and  merely  feeding  them  with  such 
requisites  and  luxuries  as  will  serve  to  keep  them  in  condi- 
tion for  the  satisfaction  of  their  gluttonous  depravity.  To 
such  lustful  men  we  cry  out :  "  Stop  your  cowardly  wanton- 
ness !  Abuse  yourselves,  if  you  will,  by  every  filthy  degra- 
dation and  defilement  that  is  detestable  to  men,  but  leave 
off  your  brutal  coarseness  with  tender  women,  in  the  low- 
'  Havelock  Ellis,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  53. 

9 


130  HEKEDITY  AND    MORALS. 

est  of  whom  there  is  the  possibility  of  motherhood  and 
reform !" 

The  time  has  come  when  society,  at  the  very  least, 
should  set  aside  these  ghouls  upon  a  common  level  with 
their  victims;  w^hen  it  should  deny  them  entrance  into 
clean  homes,  and  regard  them  as  a  diseased  lot  of  perverted 
degenerates,  unfit  for  the  holy  offices  of  fatherhood,  and  as 
the  enemies  of  women,  of  posterity,  and  of  civilization. 

Some  carnivora  kill  merely  for  the  j)leasure  of  destruc- 
tion ;  others,  like  vampires,  suck  the  blood  of  their  victims 
and  throw  the  carcasses  aside ;  and  so  some  men  pluck  the 
roses  from  maidens,  and  leave  them,  heart-broken  and  dis- 
honored, nothing  but  the  thorns. 

The  man  who  illegitimately  becomes  a  father  commits 
against  both  mother  and  child  an  awful  crime  which  can 
only  be  atoned  for  by  marriage ;  nothing  else  will  satisfy 
both  mother  and  child, — money  may  appease  the  mother, 
but  never  the  child. 

So  also  the  man  who  breaks  the  vows  made  in  marriage 
by  falling  into  licentiousness,  bringing  disease  to  innocent 
ones,  forcing  separations  and  divorces,  and  degrading  her 
whom  he  has  promised  to  cherish,  is  the  perpetrator  of  an 
unpardonable  crime,  and  shows  himself  to  be  a  liar  whom 
all  decent  men  should  shun. 

Teue  Maxliness  is  Dependent  on  PuEiry. 

In  accordance  with  the  ribald  teachings  of  loudly  boast- 
ful and  coarse  men,  youths  too  often  assume  to  believe  that 
the  sooner  they  throw  away  their  virtue  the  better,  think- 
ing that  they  see  in  the  tobacco-stained  mouth,  in  the 
whisk}' -laden  breath,  in  the  oath-polluted  lips,  in  the 
blustering  swagger,  or  in  the  other  gross  indelicacies  of 
the  rough,  those  qualities  which  will  make  them  manly 
and  gain  for  them  their  ambitions  to  be  called  "  men  about 
town"  and  "men  of  the  world." 

To  be  brave  is  of  course  the  first  desire  of  normal  men, 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    131 

and  all  abhor  the  charge  of  effeminacy,  which  means  that 
one  has  those  qualities  which  in  a  man  are  contemptible 
weaknesses,  making  one  a  milksop,  weak  and  spiritless. 
A  chaste  lite  could  not  be  advocated  if  it  even  pointed  in 
that  direction,  for  then  the  continent  man  would  be  over- 
whelmed with  shame.  It  is,  however,  the  impure  life 
which  either  effeminates  or  else  compels  a  naturally  brave 
man  to  do  things  which  he  knows  are  abhorrent  to  his 
sense  of  manhood.  Because  of  the  great  and  overpowering 
importance  which  is  conceded  by  all  to  manly  courage,  it 
is  transcendently  necessary  that  we  should  understand 
whj^  licentiousness  is  impossible  for  a  normally  brave  man. 
Loquaciousness,  boastfulness,  swagger,  cursing,  and  self- 
assertive  braggadocio  will  not  pass  for  courage  among  us. 

"How  many  cowards,  whose  hearts  are  all  as  false 
As  stairs  of  sand,  wear  yet  upon  their  chins 
The  beards  of  Hercules  and  frowning  Mars, 
Who,  inward  search'd,  have  livers  white  as  milk." 

Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  iii.,  Sc.  2. 

Such  men  as  these,  as  well  as  many  of  the  heroes  of 
romance  and  poetry,  are  as  much  inferior  to  the  genuine 
flesh-and-blood  heroes  of  real  life  as  a  paper  flower  is  in- 
ferior to  the  natural  blossom  when  seen  in  its  full  beauty 
under  the  searching  clearness  of  the  microscope. 

"  Of  course  the  greatest  type  of  manhood,  or  the  type 
wherein  our  ideal  of  manliness  reaches  its  highest  expres- 
sion, is  where  the  virtues  of  strength  are  purged  from  its 
vices.  To  be  strong  and  yet  tender,  brave  and  yet  kind,  to 
combine  in  the  same  breast  the  temper  of  a  hero  with  the 
sympathy  of  a  maiden — this  is  to  transform  the  ape  and 
the  tiger  into  what  we  know  ought  to  constitute  the  man."  ' 

The  man  who  does  not  inhibit  his  sexual  longings  gives 
a  bitter  seasoning  to  his  life,  and  throws  away  the  elements 
of  strength  which  must  be  conserved  in  order  to  secure  a 
manly  type  of  phj^sique  and  mind.     Effeminacj^  is  readily 

'  George  J.  Romanes,  Popular  Science  Monthly,  1887,  p.  389. 


132  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

apparent  in  tliose  who  squander  tlieir  sexuai  force ;  and  all 
plij^siologists  agree  that  tlie  fundamental  characteristics  of 
manhood  fail  to  appear  in  the  individual  if  he  has  too  early 
in  life  sacrificed  at  the  altar  of  lust.  By  "  too  early  in  life" 
physiologists  mean  before  the  period  of  consolidation,  or 
maturity,  i.e.,  twenty -five  years  of  age,  before  which  time 
a  man  should  not  marry.  The  physique  is  unquestionably 
injured  if  a  young  man  abuse  his  reproductive  powers  to 
any  considerable  extent,  and  Krafft-Ebing'  says:  "It  is 
psychologically  interesting  that  when  the  sexual  element 
is  early  vitiated,  then  an  ethical  defect  is  manifested." 

The  ancients,  regarding  profligacy  and  effeminac}^  as  in- 
separable, alwaj's  demanded  continence  from  those  heroic 
men  to  whom  tliej'  looked  for  deeds  of  valor  or  master- 
pieces of  intellect.  Strict  continence  was  also  the  rule 
among  the  ancient  German  warriors,  whose  heroic  deeds 
were  inspired  by  a  loyalty  to  their  beloved  ones. 

"I  find  great  wisdom  in  this  use  of  physical  love,  one  of 
the  strongest  motives  by  which  human  nature  is  actuated. 
How  widely  different  has  the  case  become  among  us !  This 
propensity  which  by  prudent  management  may  be  made 
the  germ  of  the  most  exalted  virtue,  of  the  greatest  hero- 
ism, has  degenerated  into  whining  sensibility,  or  mere 
sensual  gratification,  which  people  enjoy  prematurely,  and 
even  to  satiety ;  the  passion  of  love,  which  in  those  pe- 
riods [old  German]  was  a  security  against  dissipation,  is 
at  present  the  source  of  the  greatest;  the  virtue  of  chas- 
tity, the  principal  foundation,  without  doubt,  of  moral 
firmness  and  manliness  of  character,  has  become  a  sub- 
ject of  ridicule,  and  is  decried  as  old-fashioned  pedan- 
trj' ;  and  what  ought  to  be  the  last  and  sweetest  reward  of 
toil,  labor,  and  danger  has  become  a  flower  which  every 
stripling  crops  by  the  way."  * 

'  Loc.  cit. ,  p.  44. 

'  Hufeland's  "Art  of  Prolonging  Life,"  pp.  327,  228.  Translated 
from  the  German  by  Erasmus  Wilson,  M.D. 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    133 

The  essentials  of  manliness  are  conceded  to  be  mani- 
fested by  a  deep  reverence  for  women,  the  protection  of 
the  weak,  and  unostentatious  chivalry  toward  those  who 
are  harassed  by  misfortune,  or  who  are  unable  to  cope  with 
the  stronger  in  the  battle  of  life.  But  this  is  precisely 
what  a  licentious  man  does  not  and  cannot  do,  for  he  finds 
his  easiest  and  most  accustomed  prey,  as  a  rule,  among  those 
who  are  young  and  unsuspecting  or  deej)ly  unfortunate. 

The  gentle,  soft,  yielding,  and  confiding  natures  of  wom- 
en, which  should  hedge  them  around  with  a  wall  of  strength 
for  their  j)rotection,  become  frail  weaknesses  when  exposed 
to  the  machinations  of  such  men.  If  a  woman  has  once 
slipped,  these  men's  hands  are  against  her;  if  she  arrives 
unprotected  in  a  strange  city,  methods  are  applied  to  lead 
her  on  to  destruction  merely  for  the  sake  of  wanton  jjleas- 
ure,  there  never  being  an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  men 
to  share  any  portion  of  the  responsibility  or  shame,  but 
they  abandon  her  to  any  fate  rather  than  suffer  the  slight- 
est harm  themselves. 

Such  men  do  to  these  women  those  things  for  doing 
which  to  their  sisters  or  daughters  they  would  at  once  slay 
another  man.  Instead  of  showing  symj)athy,  or  contrib- 
uting money  to  help  in  their  reformation,  they  wantonly 
bear  a  share  in  keeping  them  down  in  the  bottom-lands  of 
infamy.  If  pregnancy  be  a  result  of  their  immoral  union, 
the  bastard  children  are  abandoned  to  the  mother's  care, 
and  the  only  effective  way  of  righting  the  wrong,  by  mar- 
riage, is  laughed  to  scorn. 

Deceit    and     Falsehood    are    Inseparably    Connected 

WITH  Impurity. 

The  making  and  telling  of  lies  is  universally  recognized 
to  be  but  a  mere  incident  in  connection  with  impurity,  and 
without  exception  fornicators  must  lie — for  a  falsehood  is 
the  necessary  handle  to  sin. 


134  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

Of  all  conceivable  things,  a  lie  is  tlie  most  despicable ; 
and  lie  who  lacks  the  courage  to  tell  the  truth  is  admittedly 
an  infamous  coward  who  has  annihilated  the  dignity  of  his 
manhood.  Fortunate  is  he  who  advances  year  by  year, 
always  transferring  to  the  future  the  telling  of  his  first  lie ! 
No  cloud  casts  such  a  sombre  shade  over  a  man's  life  as 
this  simple  word  "liar."  The  telling  of  one  deliberate  un- 
truth is  a  tragedy  in  one's  Kfe.  Just  think  of  its  import! 
It  means  that  (he  person  who  violated  the  truth  will,  under 
pressure,  do  the  same  thing  again ;  it  means  that  that  in- 
dividual can  never  be  implicitly  trusted  again.  If  we  de- 
tect a  man  in  even  one  false  statement,  we  reserve  to  our- 
selves the  jirivilege  forever  after  of  using  our  own  judg- 
ment whether  we  shall  trust  him  again.  One  lie  is  so 
terrible  because  it  shatters  a  man's  trustworthiness;  for  if 
a  person  tells  one  deliberate  falsehood,  the  tendency  is  in 
his  nature,  and  he  will  repeat  it  whenever  convenient. 
Therefore  if  a  man  is  known  to  be  a  liar,  the  author  puts 
him  upon  his  reliable  list ;  for  he  can  be  depended  on  to 
lie  again,  and  is  indeed  re-lie-ahle.  Evidently  it  cannot  be 
manly  to  enter  upon  any  course  which  necessitates  the 
telling  of  lies ;  but  a  hundred  instances  will  come  to  mind 
to  show  that  fornicators  must  lie,  sometimes  to  the  women, 
sometimes  to  the  hotel  clerks  when  they  register  under 
assumed  names,  sometimes  to  their  households,  sometimes 
to  the  police,  and  sometimes  even  to  their  doctors,  while 
as  a  rule  they  do  so  habitually,  having  acquired  the  ethical 
defect  which  is  always  manifested  by  those  who  pollute  the 
most  manly  elements  of  their  natures. 

Impurity  surely  unmans,  and  the  unchaste  man,  the  dis- 
eased man,  the  illegitimate  father,  the  profaner  and  dese- 
crator  of  the  standards  of  chivalry,  the  liar,  cannot  hold 
his  head  up  and  look  one  straight  in  the  face  except  by  a 
brazen  effrontery. 

An  old  professor  of  surgery  at  Edinburgh  University 
used  to  say,  when  the  author  was  a  student  there,  that  he 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER,    135 

could  tell  a  venereal  patient  at  a  glance  by  his  peculiar 
shamefaced,  "crab-like  gait," — a  one-sided,  shifting  step. 
A  venereal  patient  simply  cannot  look  manly ;  all  that  is, 
temporarily  at  least,  gone  from  him. 

Just  reflect  that  a  man  in  order  to  counterbalance  all 
these  terrible  responsibilities  can  only  offer  the  single  ex- 
cuse of  the  gratification  of  an  immoral  impulse.  The  pen- 
alties immeasurably  outweigh  the  pleasures :  the  crown  of 
manhood  must  be  laid  down,  and  the  throne  of  self-respect 
abdicated.  Criminals  are  noted  for  their  lack  of  compas- 
sion and  their  deficiency  in  the  altruistic  feeling,  and  a  sen- 
sual man  must  necessarily  be  at  least  a  moral  criminal  on 
account  of  his  egoism  and  utter  carelessness  of  the  welfare 
of  others.  The  perfidy  of  lewd  men  is  something  exe- 
crable ;  but  the  ages  have  not  taught  a  large  number  of 
women  to  beware  of  their  snares,  or  to  analyze  their  prom- 
ises, which  are  often  made  under  the  cloak  of  love,  or  to  see 
that  these  men  are  w'orking  with  de\'irs  tools,  or  to  appre- 
ciate the  vastly  more  momentous  outcome  of  sexual  inter- 
course to  themselves. 

Tlie  cowardliness  of  immoral  men  toivard  women  is  self- 
ajyparent. — It  is  a  commonly  accej^ted  opinion  that  modern 
civilization  demands  absolute  chastity  in  women.  Not  at 
all!  Just  consider  how  the  matter  stands.  Those  men 
who  argue  that  impurity  is  a  necessity,  reason  that  this 
vice  should  be  wddely  diffused  throughout  the  male  sex, 
but  concentrated  in  a  few  of  the  other  sex.  That  the 
women  w^ho  are  to  be  degraded  must  be  health}^  joung, 
and  attractive,  is  a  matter  of  course,  and  though  they  are 
to  be  martyred  for  a  supposed  public  good,  yet  they  are  to 
be  excluded  from  society  and  dedicated  to  the  satiation  of 
all  the  coarse  and  perverted  instincts  of  humanit}-.  The 
women  are  to  have  all  the  bitterness  heaped  upon  them, 
and  that  without  hope;  the  brothel  is  to  open  its  hungry 
door  for  them,  and  then  to  shut,  never  to  reopen. 

This  sensual  dallying  with  the  holiest  functions  of  wom- 


136  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

ankind  has  in  it  all  tlie  essential  elements  of  cowardice, 
and  no  normally  brave  man  can  for  a  moment  consent  to 
be  a  party  to  such  a  i)erversion  of  the  male  role  in  Nature. 
"  From  the  earliest  times  of  Avhich  we  have  historical 
knowledge  there  have  always  been  men  who  have  recog- 
nized the  distinction  between  the  nobler  and  baser  parts  of 
their  being.  The}-  have  j)erceived  that  if  they  would  be 
men,  and  not  beasts,  they  must  control  their  animal  i)as- 
sions,  i)refer  truth  to  falsehood,  courage  to  cowardice,  jus- 
tice to  violence,  and  compassion  to  cruelty.  These  are  the 
elementary  principles  of  morality,  on  the  recognition  of 
which  the  welfare  and  improvement  of  mankind  depend, 
and  human  history-  has  been  little  more  than  a  record  of 
the  struggle  which  began  at  the  beginning  and  will  con- 
tinue to  the  end  between  the  few  who  have  had  ability  to 
see  into  the  truth  and  loyalty  to  obey  it,  and  the  multitude 
who  by  evasion  or  rebellion  have  hoped  to  thrive  in  spite 
ofit."^ 

The  Nature  of  the  Love  of  IVIen  and  Women. 

Zangwill  ("  Without  Prejudice,"  p.  180)  has  pointed  out 
that  "  when  you  start  learning  a  new  language  jon  alwaj's 
find  yourself  confronted  with  the  verb  'to  love' — invariably 
the  normal  type  of  the  first  conjugation.  In  every  lan- 
guage on  earth  the  student  may  be  heard  declaring  with 
more  zeal  than  discretion  that  he  and  you  and  they  and 
every  other  person,  singular  or  plural,  have  loved,  and  do 
love,  and  will  love.  'To  love  '  is  the  model  verb,  express- 
ing the  archetype  of  activit3\  .  .  .  Not  merelj^  have  people 
loved  unconditionally  in  every  language,  but  there  is  none 
in  which  they  would  not  have  loved,  or  might  not  have 
loved,  had  circumstances  permitted;  none  in  which  they 
have  not  been  loved,  or  (for  hope  springs  eternal  in  the 
human  breast)  have  been  a.bout  to  be  loved." 

»  "  Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects, "  Froude,  p.  18. 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OP  DEGRADING  HER.    137 

The  great  effort  of  Maternal  Nature  is  to  people  the  earth 
with  living  beings,  while  Plastic  Nature  shapes  it.  All 
Nature  is  incessantlj"  at  work  striving  to  accomplish  these 
two  ends,  and,  in  order  that  the  perpetuation  of  the  species 
may  be  assured,  she  provides,  in  a  remarkably  lavish  man- 
ner, an  enormous  excess  of  reproductive  elements,  and  an 
imperious  biological  instinct,  or  sexual  appetite,  which,  in 
plain  words,  is  sexual  love. 

As  Letourneau  says' :  "  This  amorous  efflorescence  is, 
after  all,  the  first  cause  of  marriage  and  of  the  famil3\" 
The  reason  for  the  existence  of  love  is,  biologically,  simply 
to  bring  about  the  union  of  two  minute  cells — the  sper- 
matozoon and  the  ovum — all  other  charms  and  fascina- 
tions, which  are  associated  in  our  minds  as  belonging  to 
the  domain  of  love,  centring  in  this  one  deep  and  natural 
source." 

Every  menstrual  j)eriod  of  the  female  and  every  nocturnal 
emission  of  semen  by  the  male  are  merely  expressions  of 
Nature's  desire  that  the  species  shall  be  i^ropagated.  Nor 
i.^  the  perpetuation  of  the  species  left  to  a  mere  chance,  as 
among  the  wind-  and  water-fertilized  i^lants,  in  which  in- 
stances the  agencies  of  the  elements  are  depended  upon  to 
disseminate  the  pollen;  but  it  is  rendered  certain  by  the 
all-conquering  force  of  a  natural  instinct  secondary  only  to 
the  primal  law  of  self-preservation.  This  overpowering 
impulse  is  the  sexual  instinct,  or  sexual  love. 

Thus  Nature  employs  the  force  of  the  love-compelling 
sexual  instinct  to  constrain  males  and  females  to  mate  in 
order  to  ensure  a  fulfilment  of  her  designs,  and  not  for  a 
moment  does  she  leave  the  future  of  the  race  to  the  caprice 
or  whims  of  fickle  mankind. 

Thus  sexuality  is  at  the  bottom  of  all  true  conjugal  love ; 

1  "  The  Evolution  of  Marriage, "  p.  6. 

«  Man  is  classified  among  tlie  animals  as  a  "  bimanous,  mammifer- 
OU8  vertebrate, "  and  the  origin  of  his  social  desires  is  unquestion- 
ably to  be  found  in  his  animal  nature. 


138  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

and  wliere  there  is  no  sexual  attraction  between  individuals 
of  opposite  sexes,  there  can  be  nothing  but  a  f)latonic  love, 
which,  being  free  from  sexual  longings,  is  merely  friend- 
ship. 

Among  animals  the  manifestation  of  this  law  works  along 
normal  lines,  and  instances  of  perversions  in  which  mere 
sensuality  is  practised  are  exceedingly  exceptional  among 
them.  Thus  Letourneau'  mentions  as  exceptions  of  gross- 
ness  that  "the  stupid  tatoways  [armadillos]  meet  by 
chance,  smell  each  other,  copulate  and  separate  with  the 
greatest  indifference.  Our  domestic  dog  himself,  although 
so  civilized  and  affectionate,  is  generallj^  as  gross  in  his 
amours  as  the  tatoway."  In  the  same  way  some  men, 
"although  so  civilized  and  affectionate,"  easih^  purchase 
animal  love  from  prostitutes ;  but  between  this  and  a  noble 
monogamic  love  there  is  the  widest  possible  difference. 

This  normal  sexual  instinct,  then,  actuates  men  and 
women  to  love  each  other,  to  pair  off  in  marriage,  to  found 
homes,  and  to  ju-ovide  for  the  expected  offspring;  and 
sexual  feelings  exercise  a  directive  power  over  most  of  the 
activities  of  life — moulding  our  religion,  our  literature,  our 
art,  our  etiquette,  and,  in  short,  influencing  almost  every 
impulse  of  human  endeavor  which  is  not  attributable  to  self- 
preservation.  "  Were  man  to  be  robbed  of  the  instinct  of 
procreation  and  all  that  arises  from  it  mentally,  nearly  all 
poetr}^  and,  perhaps,  the  entire  moral  sense,  as  well,  would 
be  torn  from  his  life"  (Maudsley). 

The  fulfilment  of  the  promptings  of  sexual  love,  being  a 
law  of  Nature,  is  a  i)ure  and  chaste  communion  when  it  has 
in  view  the  perpetuation  of  the  species,  and  when  it  is  ex- 
ercised in  the  married  state ;  but  the  lascivious  gratifica- 
tion of  sensual  desire,  which  transgresses  natural  laws  and 
actually  aims  to  violate  them,  is  a  marked  perversion  which 
places  those  who  indulge  in  it  in  a  class  by  themselves  be- 
low the  level  of  the  brutes. 

*  Loc.  cit.,  p.  16. 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    139 

EiglitfuUy  guided,  this  generative  passion  leads  to  the 
fullest  enjoyments  of  life,  such  as  home,  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  to  morality  and  every  virtue.  It  is  our  most 
priceless  heritage  when  experienced  in  its  jjure  and  natural 
glow,  but  is  not  to  be  trifled  with  without  incurring  the 
most  inexorable  punishments,  notably  the  jjollution  of  the 
very  fountain-source  of  love.  Among  human  beings,  the 
simple  physical  enjoyment  of  the  act  of  intercourse  with- 
out a  mental  state  at  least  akin  to  love  cannot  be  anything 
but  a  disapijointment ;  for  it  is  wholly  imjjossible  to  divorce 
the  psychical  from  the  physical  sensations  in  this  relation- 
ship. Therefore,  as  before  pointed  out,  lewd  men,  whose 
brains  have  retained  all  kinds  of  corrupt  impressions,  often 
cannot  enjoy  the  sexual  act  without  substituting  some 
sham  in  their  imaginations  which  cheats  them  into  the  be- 
lief that  they  entertain  feelings  akin  to  love  for  their  mis- 
tresses. But  love  can  be  genuine  only  when  the  memory 
is  not  tinctured  with  corrupt  impressions,  and  when  the 
man  and  woman  long  to  possess  each  other,  body  and  soul, 
in  the  relationship  of  husband  and  wife.  Such  love  brings 
tranquillity  and  joy  dependent  on  a  realization  that  the 
creative  act  is  the  highest  function  of  manhood  and  woman- 
hood, and  on  a  full  confidence  that  there  is  no  moral  or 
physical  sin  in  the  act;  for  pledges  are  given  that  they 
shall  be  mutually  responsible  for  the  results  of  intercourse. 
In  man  the  longing  for  sexual  intercourse  is  naturally  more 
powerful  than  it  is  in  woman,  so  that  his  role  is  that  of 
aggressiveness  in  courtship;  but  on  the  other  hand,  sex 
dominates  a  woman  far  more,  and  by  far  the  greater  pro- 
portion of  the  reproduction  and  early  nurture  of  the  race 
is  laid  on  her,  so  that  she  may  well  be  deemed  the  most 
exalted  of  all  created  beings  by  reason  of  her  physical 
nature. 

The  sensual  gratification  which  a  woman  experiences  in 
coition  is  normally  not  the  chief  pleasure,  but  to  her  the 
enjoyment  of  the  act  is  the  sum  of  the  lustful  satisfaction, 


140  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

Ijlus  the  "love  touch,"  jilus  the  kisses  and  caresses,  plus 
the  feeling  of  confideuce  that  her  husband  will  fulfil  his 
share  of  j^areutal  resi^onsibilitj. 

The  sensual  factor  is  much  more  powerful  in  man  than 
in  woman,  and  a  man's  love  is  naturalh'  not  so  deep  and 
lasting  as  a  woman's — for  to  her  love  means  everything  in 
life,  while  to  him  it  is  merelj^  one  of  the  great  delights  of 
life.  As  Madame  de  Stael  said :  "  Love  is  the  history  of 
woman's  life;  it  is  an  episode  in  man's," 

A  shock  to  a  woman's  real  love  is  almost  a  mortal  blow, 
while  a  man  more  readily  recovers  himself  and  finds  another 
object;  but  the  more  he  is  effeminated  by  sensualit}^,  the 
more  dependent  he  becomes  on  women,  and  the  more  liable 
he  is  to  be  ruined  by  a  series  of  counterfeit  love  affairs. 
Woman  loves  more  specially  the  soul  of  the  man  and  the 
attributes  of  his  mind  and  heart,  and  when  she  becomes  a 
mother  she  shares  her  love  between  the  child  and  her  hus- 
band. Sexual  passion  in  its  full  force  exercises  far  more 
influence  over  the  life  of  a  woman,  for  not  only  is  her  cor- 
poreal condition  dominated  bj^  her  physical  sex,  but  her 
husband  represents  the  only  possible  means  of  gratification 
for  her  sexual  longings — meaning  by  this  far  more  than  the 
mere  voluptuous  embrace. 

Men  who  have  been  passion's  slaves,  whether  b}^  onan- 
ism or  venerj',  or  men  who  have  had  the  pure  promptings 
of  the  sexual  instinct  vitiated  bj^  disease  or  impure  mental 
stains,  are  incapable  of  loving  truly.  Such  indi\'iduals  find 
the  chief  object  of  their  love  in  the  voluptuous  side  of 
women's  characteristics ;  but  such  an  over-sensual  love  can- 
not remain  constant  and  true  after  desire  has  failed,  nor  if 
a  greater  degree  of  satisfaction  can  be  illegitimately  ob- 
tained elsewhere. 

A  form  of  love  which  is  outside  the  bounds  of  physio- 
logical love,  and  quite  peculiar  to  the  human  race,  is  a 
"romantic  love"  of  an  extravagant,  wild,  imaginative  and 
idealized  form.     It  is  of  course  wholly  unnatural,  being 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OP  DEGRADING  HER.    l4l 

indicative  of  a  mental  sickliness,  and  belonging  only  to 
those  who  liave  not  thrown  off  the  sentimental  thraldom 
of  youth.  Romantic  love  comparatively  seldom  leads  to 
marriage,  and  its  subtle  spell  is  not  to  be  comjjared  to  the 
pure  glow  of  a  physiological  love.  It  deals  principally 
with  the  wooings  and  cooings  and  sonnets  which  are  on 
the  borders  of  love-land,  but  not  with  such  impulses  as 
spring  from  true  sources  of  love.  In  such  alliances,  when 
romance  dies,  love  dies.  Ileal  love  is  intensely  sexual 
without  being  sensual.  Heal  love  knits  souls  together  so 
that  one  would  unhesitatingly  suffer  all  extremes  for  the 
other. 

The  feminine  grace  of  a  modest  and  well-bred  woman  in- 
fluences her  to  be  reserved  and  unaggressive,  and  a  woman 
who  makes  the  advances  in  courtship  is  an  anomaly.  And 
yet  love  is  a  woman's  very  life,  and  a  necessity  to  her  far 
more  than  it  is  to  a  man. 

The  penalties  of  dallying  with  chastitj-  mean  almost  cer- 
tain ruin  to  a  woman,  because  maternity  will  jirobably  fol- 
low any  indiscreej;  interchange  of  embraces  on  her  jjart, 
and  at  the  best  her  genitals  usually  retain  permanently  the 
marks  of  injury  by  the  violator,  so  that  after  a  single 
lapse  from  virtue  she  forfeits  her  right  to  expect  marriage 
or  love,  while  the  man  escapes  these  i:)enalties. 

After  intercourse  the  man  speedily  loses  sensual  desire, 
and  all  the  effects  on  him  are  trivial  in  comparison  with 
the  results  to  her,  for,  in  addition  to  the  physical  perils  of 
unchaste  intercourse,  she  suffers  a  deeper  and  more  lasting 
mental  impression  which  painfully  degrades  her  purer  char- 
acter. A  woman's  modest,  confiding  and  yielding  nature 
fills  her  whole  soul  with  a  trustful  and  jierfect  love  toward 
the  one  to  whom  she  has  committed  herself;  and  she  has 
always  been  too  ready  to  put  her  whole  faith  in  a  man  after 
he  has  once  gained  her  love,  and  has  too  often  believed  him 
and  relied  upon  him  outside  of  the  bonds  of  matrimony .  It 
would  seem  unkind  to  Satan  himself  to  believe  that  he 


142  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

would  use  the  compelliug  indueuce  of  a  tliiug  so  sweet  as 
love  to  furtlier  his  diabolical  plans;  but  there  are  men 
everywhere  who  persuade  their  victims  into  the  belief  that 
a  sensual  love  between  them  excuses  the  gratification  of 
their  jjassions,  and  then  abandon  them. 


A  woman's  true  sj^here  is  within  the  shelter  of  a  home 
which  she  adorns  with  the  fair  lustre  of  her  virtues,  sup- 
ported and  protected  by  her  husband,  and  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  the  sacred  delights  of  maternity.  But  all  of  them 
cannot  be  so  fortunate ;  and  it  is  those  very  women  who  are 
in  the  greatest  need  of  consideration,  and  who  must  face 
the  world  alone,  whom  men,  as  a  rule,  do  not  treat  defer- 
entially. Disadvantages  are  always  heaped  upon  them; 
they  are  insulted  in  the  streets  if  unprotected;  their  wages 
are  less  for  eciual  work  done ;  little  thought  is  taken  by  their 
emi^loyers  as  to  how  they  can  subsist  houorablj- ;  and  dia- 
bolically inclined  men  are  always  about,  striving  to  lure 
them  to  their  ruin  b}'  arts  which  sometimes  deceive  and 
sometimes  compel. 

Men  rarely  boast  of  having  accomi^lished  the  ruin  of  a 
girl;  but  if  she  has  taken  a  single  false  step,  or  even  de- 
parted in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  proprieties  of 
womanhood,  their  hands  are  against  her  to  prevent  her 
from  rising  or  recovering  from  her  error. 

Society  maintains  that  a  lapse  from  virtue  on  a  woman's 
part  is  unpardonable,  because  of  the  risks  peculiar  to  her; 
but  the  man  who  is  her  partner  is  morally  blameworthy  to 
a  far  greater  degree,  since  he,  as  the  principal,  is  the  ag- 
gressor. Not  necessarily  realizing  his  vileness,  he  never- 
theless is  corrupt,  untrue  and  debased.  In  fact,  he  is  on 
a  moral  plane  below  that  of  the  tatoways. 

Men  have  always  controlled  the  laws  as  well  as  literature, 
and  have  invariably  legislated  to  their  own  advantage — re- 
garding women  as  the  weaker  sex  and  imfit  to  have  any 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OP  DEGRADING  HER.    143 

voice  in  government.  But  men  have  demonstrated  that  they 
are  not  trulj-  gallant  or  kind  toward  women  and  the  weaker 
members  of  society ;  for  they  have  heaped  the  most  unfair 
restrictions  upon  them,  and  have  plainly  shown  the  insin- 
cerity of  their  professed  respect  for  womanhood. 

Within  the  recollection  of  the  present  generation  the  con- 
dition of  women  has  changed  enormously  for  the  better 
since  they  have  taken  the  higher  education;  and  therein 
lies  their  promise  of  safety ;  for  if  they  trust  to  the  unin- 
fluenced generosity  of  men  to  grant  them  even  decent 
rights,  they  will  be  disappointed.  Until  women  began  to 
t-ake  an  interest  in  affairs  of  state,  all  laws  which  aimed  to 
better  their  condition  invariably  met  with  effectual  ox)posi- 
tion,  and  whatever  improvements  have  taken  place  in  leg- 
islation regarding  public  morals  are  attributable  almost 
solely  to  women  and  their  influence.  Because  women  have 
been  silent,  men  have  been  led  to  believe  that  they  are  in- 
different to  public  morals ;  but,  though  it  is  characteristic 
of  women  to  close  their  eyes  and  avert  their  heads  at  the 
sight  or  suggestion  of  horrible  things,  yet  many  noble  ones 
among  them  have  bravely  fought  for  the  betterment  of  their 
social  condition  with  the  grandest  results.  Women  are  at 
bottom  the  real  authors  of  the  recent  laws  which  have  been 
enacted  in  many  of  our  States — raising  the  "  age  of  consent" 
from  eight  or  ten  years  to  fourteen,  sixteen,  and  in  some 
instances  eighteen  years  of  age. 

The  technical  term  "  age  of  consent"  denotes  the  age  at 
which  a  girl  can  consent  to  her  own  seduction  without  in- 
crimination of  the  violator.  These  statutes  vary  in  the  dif- 
ferent ci\ilized  countries,  buf  in  all  of  them  carnal  knowl- 
edge of  a  girl  under  statutory  age  is  punishable  as  rape, 
even  though  she  consent. 

It  is  a  strange  anomaly  that  a  girl  cannot  make  con- 
tracts or  marry  without  parental  consent  until  she  is 
eighteen  years  of  age,  and  that  a  man,  though  not  per- 
mitted by  law  to  make  her  his  wife,  may  yet  with  impu- 


144  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

nity  make  lier  liis  mistress  before  she  lias  attained  tliat 
age. 

In  some  States  the  "  age  of  consent"  has  been  fixed  by 
law  at  seven  years  (Delaware) ;  in  many  others  at  ten 
years,  and  in  others  at  varying  ages  up  to  eighteen  years. 
At  the  earlier  ages  the  unsuspecting  child  does  not,  of 
course,  at  all  appreciate  the  significance  of  the  sexual  act, 
or  the  shame  and  physical  iujurj^  to  which  she  is  sub- 
jected.' 

In  England,  in  1885,  the  "age  of  consent"  was,  by  the 
influence  of  women,  raised  from  thirteen  to  sixteen  years 
of  age;  and  without  doubt  the  time  is  soon  coming  when 

>  TTie  Philanthropist  for  March,  1896,  published  the  following 
data : 

"protection   for  GmLHOOD. 

"During  the  year  we  have  again  secured  an  official  statement,  as 
given  by  the  secretaries  of  the  several  States  of  the  Union,  concern- 
ing the  age-of -consent  laws.     As  a  result  we  present  the  following  : 

"In  four  States — Mississippi,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and 
Alabama — the  Age  of  Consent  is  fixed  at  the  shocking  low  age  of  ten 
years.  In  four  States — Kentucky,  Virginia,  Nevada  and  West  Vir- 
ginia— the  age  is  fixed  at  twelve  years.  In  three  States — New 
Hampshire,  Utah  and  Iowa — at  thirteen  years.  In  the  State  of 
Maryland,  in  Maine,  in  Vermont,  in  Indiana,  in  North  Dakota,  in 
Georgia,  in  Illinois,  and  in  California,  at  fourteen  years.  In  Ne- 
braska and  Texas  the  age  limit  is  fifteen  years.  In  New  Jersey,  in 
Massachusetts,  in  Michigan,  Montana,  South  Dakota,  Oregon,  Rhode 
Island,  Pennsylvania  and  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  age  is  six- 
teen years.  In  Tennessee,  sixteen  years  and  one  day.  In  Florida, 
seventeen  years.  In  New  York,  Kan.sas,  Wyomirg  and  Colorado, 
eighteen  years.  In  Delaware,  the  original  statute  pertaining  to  the 
crime  of  rape  is  still  unrepealed,  fixing  the  age  at  seven  years,  but 
the  last  legislature  passed  an  amended  act  which,  practically,  is  de- 
signed to  extend  legal  protection  in  that  State  to  young  girls  to  the 
limit  of  eighteen  years. 

"There  is  urgent  need  of  added  legislation  to  more  adequately  pro- 
tect minors  of  both  sexes  against  sexual  defilement.  The  Alliance 
has  under  consideration,  in  connection  with  a  committee  of  jurists, 
a  measure  to  meet  this  need." 


WOMAN,  AND  THE  UNMANLINESS  OF  DEGRADING  HER.    145 

carnal  knowledge  of  a  girl  under  eighteen  years  of  age  will 
everywliere  be  punishable  by  law  as  rape. 

In  most  of  the  interests  of  life  the  conditions  affecting 
the  sexes  are  identical ;  but  one  sex  alone  has  never  been 
able  to  and  never  can  justly  or  intelligently  govern  the  pe- 
culiar relationships  of  the  two  sexes ;  and  for  the  proper 
adjustment  of  these  natural  differences  the  counsel  of 
women  is  imperatively  required.  How  can  legislators, 
many  of  whom  are  notoriously  corruj^t,  be  relied  upon  to 
legislate  favorably  for  women  when  they  have  no  proper 
respect  for  them,  nor  appreciation  of  the  evils  and  dangers 
of  prostitution  and  its  concomitant  disease,  illegitimacy, 
and  criminal  abortion? 

The  mere  sentiment  of  women  has  often  proved  sufficient 
to  defeat  the  election  of  legislators  of  impure  fame ;  and  the 
time  seems  to  be  fast  coming  when  they  will  have  the  fran- 
chise, which  is  far  more  powerful  than  sentiment;  and 
when  that  responsibility  is  accorded,  and  when  they  have 
accepted  it,  it  may  confidently  be  predicted,  so  the  author 
thinks,  that  the  world  will  improve  at  a  bound. '     Kespect 

'  "I  have  been  seeking  for  some  years  a  good,  sound  reason  why 
women  should  not  vote,  and  I  have,  after  diligent  search,  found  one, 
and  only  one.  It  is  because  they  are  women.  There  is  no  other,  so 
far  as  I  have  yet  been  able  to  discover,  which  rises  above  the  frivo- 
lous. .   .   . 

"When  the  war  closed,  many  millions  of  men  and  women  were 
made  free.  In  order  to  enable  them  to  protect  their  freedom,  it  was 
deemed  necessary  to  place  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  the  freemen. 
It  did  not  apparently  matter  so  much  about  the  women  ;  because,  it 
is  presumed,  it  was  thought  they  could  protect  themselves  or  could 
lean  upon  the  chivalry  of  the  men.  With  all  the  power  of  the  United 
States  to  back  up  the  government,  the  black  man  had  still  for  his 
protection  to  be  endowed  with  the  ballot.  Tlie  women  could  get 
along  without  it,  beause  thej-  were  tcomen.  The  only  qualifications 
were  that  the  voter  should  be  of  age — and  a  man.  It  would  have 
been  well  to  add  another  qualification — that  he  should  be  able  to  read 
and  write. 

"  The  next  time  we  extend  the  suilrage  it  is  to  be  hoped  we  will  not 

10 


146  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

for  womanliood  is  tlie  great  distinguisliing  mark  of  su- 
periority of  our  modern  times  over  tlie  ancient  civilizations, 
so  we  all  believe ;  and  we  realize  that  when  she  who  is  the 
centre  of  home  life  ceases  to  be  respected  by  men,  or  fails 
to  uphold  her  own  dignity,  then  society  will  be  under- 
mined and  corrupted. 

If  men  are  wise,  and  if  they  are  earnest  in  their  desires 
for  a  high  state  of  civilization,  they  will  not  oppose  the 
noble  efforts  of  women  by  ridicule,  but  rather  seek  their 
counsel — for  in  the  near  future  we  shall  be  compelled  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  justice,  and  humanity,  and  equality  which 
they  will  have  instilled  into  our  hearts  and  into  our  laws. 

repeat  the  same  mistake,  but  bestow  on  women  who  can  read  and 
write  the  right  to  cast  a  ballot.  Once  in  possession  of  the  franchise, 
it  would  be  strange,  indeed,  if  she  did  not  make  a  better  use  of  it 
than  ignorance  and  degnidation  have  ever  succeeded  in  doing. 

"That  the  day  for  the  enfranchisement  of  women  in  this  country  is 
coming  cannot  be  doubted  by  any  one  capable  of  reading  the  very  ap- 
parent signs  which  have  been  shown  for  some  years  past.  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  these  signs  is  the  desperate  struggle  those  op- 
posed to  woman  suffrage  are  making  to  prevent  its  accomplishment. 
Desperate  struggles  are  not  made  against  attacks  less  formidable  and 
persistent  than  those  which  have  been  waged  so  long  in  favor  of 
placing  woman  on  the  same  legal  level  with  man,  by  putting  in  her 
hand  the  only  weapon  competent  for  her  protection." — "  Why  Women 
Should  Have  the  Ballot,"  by  General  John  Gibbon,  U.  S.  A.,  in  The 
North  American  Review,  July,  1896. 


t 


CHAPTEK  V. 

SOME  OP  THE  INFLUENCES    WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL 

IMMORALITY. 


The  Abuse  of  Spirituous  Liquors  is  pre-eminently  one  of 
the  leading  factors  wliicli  promote  licentiousness,  and  the 
reason  is  not  far  to  seek — for  alcohol  notably  enfeebles  the 
powers  of  resistance,  confuses  the  reason,  and  at  the  same 
time  awakens  and  stimulates  the  desire  for  sexual  gratifi- 
cation by  allowing  the  lower  animal  passions  to  transcend 
the  higher. 

No  healthy  person  is  benefited  l\v  the  use  of  any  fer- 
mented or  distilled  driiik,  and  probably  the  habitual  use  of 
any  liquor  which  contains  alcohol  is  injurious  to  the 
normal  person. 

Alcoholic  beverages  are  especially  dangerous  to  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Celt,  since  the  tendency  in  these 
races  is  to  rashly  increase  the  amount  of  the  alcohol  until 
moderation  is  set  aside. 

Medicinal!}^  the  stimulants  are  invaluable,  and  they  have 
been  called  "  the  milk  of  old  people" ;  but  at  best  they  are 
sharp-edged  tools,  and  quite  unsuitable  for  the  ordinary 
individual. 

Not  to  enter  into  an  elaborate  discussion,  there  can, 
however,  be  no  dispute  that  the  saloons  are  the  dissemina- 
tors of  everything  obscene  and  impure,  and  the  very  light- 
houses of  hell. 


148  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 


DaN'CING,    and  the  ImiODESTIES  OP  DeESS. 

In  tlie  ballroom  many  nnappreciated  influences  are  at 
work  to  excite  tlie  fancies,  whicli  ma}-  operate  as  visual, 
auditory,  olfactory,  or  tactile  impressions. 

Except  in  childhood  and  old  age — the  neuter  periods  of 
life,  when  the  vita  sexualis  is  not  largely  influencing  the 
thoughts  and  feelings — most  men  are  naturalh^  more  or  less 
excited  by  close  approach  to  an  attractive  individual  of  the 
opposite  sex,  as  are  all  animals ;  and  this  excitation  is  felt 
in  greater  intensity  if  the  woman  dress  so  as  to  accentu- 
ate and  bring  into  prominence  her  secondarj^  sexual  char- 
acteristics; and  the  various  fetiches  of  dress  and  personal 
adornment  exert  even  a  stronger  spell  when  the  woll-known 
physiological  effects  of  perfumes'  and  seductive  music  are 
superadded. 

Dr.  Galopin  quaintly  says,  "Love  begins  at  the  nose"; 
and  every  physiologist  is  well  aware  of  the  intimac}-  be- 
tween the  olfactory  and  sexual  centres.  This  need  not  be 
further  elucidated  in  this  connection,  though  the  matter  is 
of  importance  in  showing  how  the  whole  keyboard  of  the 
emotions  may  be  i:)layed  upon  by  sensuous  stimuli. 

'  "  Owing  to  the  close  relations  which  exist  between  the  sexual  in- 
stinct and  the  olfactory  sense,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  the  sexual 
and  olfactory  centres  lie  close  together  in  the  cerebral  cortex.  .  .  . 
Among  animals,  the  influence  of  olfactory  perceptions  on  the  sexual 
sense  is  unmistakable.  Althaus  declares  that  the  sense  of  smell  is 
important  with  reference  to  the  reproduction  of  the  species.  .  .  . 
Altliaus  also  shows  that  in  man  there  are  certain  relations  between 
the  olfactory  and  sexual  senses.  ...  In  the  Orient  the  pleasant  per- 
fumes are  esteeiued  for  their  relation  to  the  sexual  organs,  and  the 
women's  apartments  of  tlie  Sultan  are  filled  with  the  perfumes  of 
flowers." — KrafTt-Ebing,  loc.  cit.,  pp.  26,  27,  quod  vide.  KrafFt- 
Ebing  also  mentions,  on  tlie  authority  of  other  observers,  the  odor  of 
the  sweat  as  being  productive  of  sexual  excitation.  He,  however, 
is  inclined  to  doubt  the  importance  of  olfactory  impressions  in  rela- 
tion to  the  sexual  appetite  in  norviul  men. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.     149 

Fui'tliermore,  wlien  the  puncli-bowl  is  a  prominent  fea- 
ture of  tlie  entertainment,  it  will  at  once  be  perceived  that 
hardlj^  anything  more  voluptuous  and  alluring  could  be 
devised;  and  it  may  safely  be  affirmed  that — for  many  of 
the  guests  at  least — the  modern  ball  affords  what  we  may 
call  a  secondary  sexual  love-feast.  The  greatest  enjoy- 
ment is  presumably  experienced  b}'  those  who  are  lustfully 
inclined — such  individuals  making  it  a  point  to  attend  all 
kinds  of  balls,  where  they  mentally  revel  in  their  fancies. 
It  is  not  to  be  thought  that  women,  or  that  most  men  even, 
realize  what  they  are  doing  upon  such  occasions ;  but  never- 
theless they  are  blindly  led  on  by  customs  which  forever 
tend  toward  licentiousness  and  rapid  living.  There  is  a 
habit  of  laughing  at  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  thunder 
out  denunciations  against  dancing,  but  from  a  purely 
medical  standpoint  the  customs  of  the  ballroom  are  j^er- 
fectly  indefensible.  It  is  certainly  most  noteworthy-  that 
old  roues,  w-hen  speaking  seriously,  heartily  disapprove  of 
dancing  and  the  costuming  which  is  considered  a  necessary 
part  of  it,  on  the  ground  that  they  stimulate  the  passions 
and  pave  the  way  to  familiarity  and  even  worse  lai:)ses.  In 
opi^osing  such  a  popular  institution  we  tread  on  delicate 
ground  indeed,  so  that  we  may  anticipate  the  strongest  dis- 
approval from  many  quarters  unless  the  subject  is  atten- 
tively analyzed.  But  from  the  well-informed  physician, 
the  humanitarian,  the  student  of  the  times,  and  from  the 
experienced  man  of  the  world,  we  confidently  exjject  a 
unanimous  verdict  of  approval.  Among  animals,  the  male 
is  endowed  with  greater  natural  beauty ;  but  men,  for  their 
own  selfish  reasons,  love  to  designate  women  as  the  beau- 
tiful sex,  and  delight  to  see  them  adorn  themselves  with 
beautiful  apparel  and  jewels,  the  underlying  reason  for 
which  is  well  understood  to  have  its  origin  in  the  sensual 
inclinations  of  men. 

None  can  deny  or  doubt  that  women,  whether  consciously 
or  unconsciously,  endeavor  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  fan- 


150  HEREDITY   AND  MORALS. 

cies  of  men,  and  the  reason  that  tliey  make  themselves  so 
attractive  is  to  be  found  in  the  desire  to  arrest  and  retain 
the  notice  of  the  oj^posite  sex;  and  on  this  account,  and 
this  alone,  new  fashions  come  and  go,  so  that  when  one 
eccentricity  of  style  has  become  familiar,  another  mode  is 
suddenly  adopted  which  compels  attention. 

"  It  shoiild  be  noted  that  among  savages  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
the  man  only  that  runs  the  risk  of  being  obliged  to  lead  a 
single  life.  Hence  it  is  obvious  that  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  he  must  endeavor  to  be  taken  into  favor  by  making 
himself  as  attractive  as  possible.  In  civilized  Europe,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  opposite  occurs.  Here  it  is  the 
woman  that  has  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  married — 
and  she  is  also  the  vainer  of  the  two."  ' 

The  tendency  of  the  human  race  is  constantly  toward 
exaggeration;  and  this  is  observed  by  anthropologists, 
among  both  savage  and  civilized  peojiles,  in  the  promi- 
nence which  is  given  to  those  parts  of  the  body  that  are 
especially  preferred.^ 

Thus  the  Chinese  women  bind  their  feet;  the  savage 
pierces  the  ears  and  nose,  and  wears  the  hair  in  a  grotesque 
manner,  besides  otherwise  compelling  attention  to  the  ana- 
tomical peculiarities  by  tattooing,  ornaments,  etc. ;  the 
harlot  dyes  her  hair  and  ai:)plies  pigment  round  her  eyes  to 
accentuate  their  brillianc}- ;  and  in  innumerable  ways  hu- 
man beings  strive  to  make  themselves  sexually  attractive. 

The  wearing  of  labrets  and  lip-rings ;  the  piercing  of  the 
ears  and  nose  for  the  reception  of  ornaments ;  the  customs 
of  tattooing  and  painting;  the  predilection  for  rings  and 
anklets  and  bangles  and  bracelets  and  necklaces  and  girdles ; 

'  Westermarck,  "  History  of  Human  Marriage, "  p.  185. 

'  "  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  all  parts  of  the  world  the  desire  for 
self-decoration  is  strongest  at  the  beginning  of  the  age  of  puberty,  all 
the  above-named  customs  [mutilation,  tattooing,  ornamentation, 
etc.]  being  practised  most  zealously  at  that  period  of  life.  "—Wester- 
marck, loc.  cit.,  p.  173. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    151 

the  blackening  and  filing  of  the  teetli;  tlie  pride  in  the 
adornment  of  the  hair;  the  enthusiasm  for  beads,  and  all 
the  multitudinous  customs  of  ornamentation,  are  univer- 
sally said  by  travellers,  and  by  those  who  are  versed  in 
the  science  of  man,  to  be  designed  for  the  attraction  of  the 
opposite  sex — the  reasons  given  being  summed  up,  as 
Westermarck  so  well  puts  it,  hj  the  expressions,  "to  be 
agreeable  to  the  women,"  or  "to  make  herself  a  delicious 
morsel  for  the  arms  of  an  ardent  lover."'  Among  the 
women  of  civilized  countries  there  is  also  this  most  marked 
tendeucj^  to  make  prominent  those  i:)arts  which  are  consid- 
ered the  attributes  of  feminine  beauty ;  and  nowhere,  not 
even  at  the  seashore,  is  this  so  well  exemplified  as  in  the 
ballroom. 

The  ancient  Greeks  and  Romans  costumed  themselves 
with  graceful  and  looselj^  flowing  tunics,  which  served  to 
drape  them  becomingly  without  unduly  marking  the  dis- 
similarity between  the  sexes,  and  without  making  the 
sexual  characteristics  of  anatomy  too  prominent.  But, 
while  modern  men  do  not  dress  immodestly  or  sensuousK, 
the  same  cannot  be  said  of  the  toilettes  of  many  women, 
since  their  costumes  are  often  not  so  much  adapted  for 
utility  as  for  accentuating  too  agreeably  the  sexual  points 
of  their  beaut}'  and  disi)laying  tlieir  figures.  In  fact,  the 
"girl  of  the  period"  is  characterized  too  largely  by  her 
clothes,  and  she  suggests  too  much  the  mysteries  of  the 
toilette,  ijaying  too  little  attention  to  her  physical  charms 
and  too  much  to  her  finei'y — in  short,  she  overdresses." 

It  is  easil}'  to  be  seen  that  fashionable  women  emphasize 
those  parts  of  the  anatomy  which  constitute  their  secon- 

^  Compare  Westermarck,  loc.  cit.,  p.  165  et  seq. 

2  "  Women  are  everywhere  conscious  of  the  value  of  their  own 
beauty  ;  and  when  they  liave  the  means,  they  take  more  delight  in 
decorating  themselves  with  all  sorts  of  ornaments  than  do  men. 
They  borrow  the  plumes  of  male  birds,  with  which  nature  has  decked 
this  sex  in  order  to  charm  the  females." — Darwin,  "The  Descent  of 
Man, "  p.  597. 


152  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

dary  sexual  characteristics,  thus  bringing  out  an  exagger- 
ated type  of  the  feminine  figure,  e.g.,  the  breasts,  bosom, 
waist  and  hij^s.  Nature  has  ah-eady  given  a  well-formed 
woman  a  prominent  bust,  a  graceful  waist,  and  broad  hij)S, 
and  it  is  bej^ond  dispute  that  she  is  stamped  by  Providence 
as  being  more  distinctly  sexual  in  her  conformation,  and 
that  she  is  obviously  fashioned  for  the  duties  of  maternity. 
But  fashion  has  ordained,  chiefly  out  of  deference  to  the 
unrecognized  desires  of  men,  that  all  these  prominent 
sexual  characters  shall  be  enormoush^  accentuated  by  cor- 
sets, bustles,  padded  breasts,  and  by  other  devices  which 
display  the  exaggerated  curves.' 

Thus  the  corset  is  employed  to  constrict  the  waist,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  emphasize  the  hips  and  breasts; 
sleeves  are  sometimes  enormous,  sometimes  scant}' ;  skirts 

1  "  It  would  be  interesting  to  trace  the  origin  and  development  of 
the  modern  waist  in  women.  The  Greeks  of  the  finest  period  knew 
nothing  of  it,  but  during  tlie  period  of  decadence  women  began  to 
compress  the  body  with  tlie  apparent  object  of  emphasizing  the 
sexual  attraction  of  a  conspicuously  large  pelvis.  Hippocrates  vigor- 
ously denounced  the  women  of  Cos  for  constricting  the  waist  with 
a  girdle.  Among  the  Romans,  who  adopted  this  practice  from  the 
depraved  Greeks,  Martial  often  alludes  to  the  small  waists  of  the 
women  of  his  time,  and  Galen  speaks  much  in  the  same  way  as  a 
modern  physician  regarding  the  evils  of  tiglit  lacing.  Since  then 
matters  have  changed,  but  very  slightly.  Tlie  apparent  development 
of  the  pelvis  has  been  further  artificially  exaggerated  by  that  contri- 
vance which  in  Elizabetlian  times  was  called  a  '  bum-roll'  and  more 
recently  a  'bustle.'  The  tightening  of  the  %vaist  dops  not  merely 
emphasize  the  pelvic  sexual  characters ;  it  also  emphasizes  the  not- 
less-important  thoracic  sexual  characters;  as  Dr.  Louis  Robinson 
expresses  it  (in  a  private  letter)  :  'I  think  it  very  likely  one  of  the 
reasons  (and  there  must  lie  strong  ones)  for  the  persistent  habit  of 
tightening  up  the  belly-girth  among  Cliristian  damsels  is  that  such 
constriction  renders  tlie  breathing  thoracic,  and  so  advertises  the  al- 
luring bosom  by  keeping  it  in  constant  and  manifest  movement. 
The  heaving  of  a  sub-clavicular  sigh  is  likely  to  cause  more  sensa- 
tion than  the  heaving  of  an  epigastric  or  umbilical  sigh.'" — :Have- 
l.ock  Ellis,  "  Man  and  Woman, "  p.  210. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    153 

are  sometimes  too  ample,  sometimes  too  tight;  and  all 
tliese  various  fashions  have  in  view  the  self-same  design  of 
impressing  on  the  notice  the  sexual  attraction  of  the  wearer. 

A  gloriously  formed  woman  will  by  nature  have  these 
j)arts  of  her  figure  ample  and  prominent,  but  there  is  no 
sensuality  about  Nature's  handiwork,  and  to  the  anatomist 
these  distortions  which  are  decreed  hj  fashion  ajjpear  as 
the  greatest  possible  violations  of  beaut}^  and  of  propriety. 
All  these  indelicate  exposures  and  oddities  of  apparel 
necessarily  localize  the  attention  of  the  beholder  on  the  em- 
phasized part,  and  the  costuming  of  fashionable  women 
has  to  a  pernicious  degree  become  too  expressive  of  their 
sex,  and  too  highly  iuflaming  to  men.* 

In  the  ballroom  the  attire  of  some  of  the  women,  at 
least,  is  often  sensuous  to  the  extreme  limit  of  propriety ; 
and  it  is  futile  to  deny  that  many  men  become  sexuall3^ 
excited  bj"  a  close  contact  with  beautiful  women  who  dis- 
play bare  arms  and  even  the  dimples  between  the  breasts, 
and  who  at  the  same  time  attract  by  the  well-known 
erotic  stimuli  of  perfumes,  touch,  and  other  attractive 
equipments,  which,  if  they  do  not  plainly  show,  at  least 
suggest. 

The  logic  of  the  changes  of  fashion  is  not  difficult  for 
physiologists  to  understand,  for  the  unceasing  variations 
of  the  caprices  of  dress  follow  the  well-known  i^hysiological 
law  that  the  nervous  system  fails  to  react  to  a  stimulus  "in 
proportion  to  the  duration  of  the  action  of  the  stimulus" 
(Chaddock).  Thus  we  cease  to  be  excited  or  attracted  by 
phenomena  with  which  we  are  constantly  associated,  while 
new  stimuli  compel  attention. 

For  this  reason  the  sensible  and  becoming  style  of  to- 
day gives  place  to  the  absurd,  uncomfortable  and  hideous 
fashion  of  to-morrow,  the  aim  being  to  constantly  attract 

*  Court  plaster  is  so  called  because  it  was  originally  used  by  ladies 
at  court  to  accentuate  some  special  facial  attraction.  This  is  an  ex- 
ample of  one  of  the  slighter  degrees  of  accentuation. 


154  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

attention;  and  the  reason  is  to  be  found  in  tlie  desire  to 
sexually  please  the  taste  of  men.  Nor  do  these  efforts  fail 
of  their  purpose  when  we  consider  that  manj-  men  are  some- 
what enthusiastic  over  the  distinctive  charms  of  the  femi- 
nine figure,  and  that  some  men  are  inflammably  so. 

It  can  confidently  be  asserted  that  among  the  men  in  the 
ballroom  no  inconsiderable  number  are  sexually  stimulated 
by  the  sensuous  attire  of  the  women ;  and  the  most  highly 
excited  of  all  are,  of  course,  the  neurotic  and  lascivious 
ones,  who  consequently,  in  many  instances,  appear  to  the 
best  advantage,  and  are  especially  popular  with  the  ladies 
on  account  of  their  showing  the  liveliest  and  fullest  appre- 
ciation of  their  charms. 

Hidden  beauties  are  known  to  be  most  powerful  in  ex- 
citing the  sexual  fanc}'  b^'  provoking  a  sort  of  interested 
disapi)ointment ;  and  so  a  costume,  perhaps  not  realh'  im- 
modest, may  yet  be  so  designed  as  to  j^rove  undul}'  fasci- 
nating. 

Young  girls  who  have  been  modestlj^  brought  up  have 
been  known  to  cry  bitterly  from  a  sense  of  natural  woman- 
liness the  first  time  they  have  been  made  to  appear  in  ball 
dress;  their  pure  instincts  shrinking  from  showing  the 
great  expanse  of  bare  flesh,  the  dimple  between  the  breasts, 
and  the  nude  bosom  and  arms — for,  upon  their  first  appear- 
ance, they  inily  realize  that  ihey  are  indecently  clad  for 
the  society'  of  men. 

"In  remarkable  contrast  with  it  [feminine  modesty] 
there  is  occasional  exposition  of  physical  charms,  conven- 
tionally sanctioned  by  the  law  of  fashion,  in  which  eA'en 
the  most  discreet  maiden  allows  herself  to  indulge  in  the 
ballroom.  The  reasons  which  lead  to  this  display  are 
evident  [to  be  sexually  attractive].  Fortunateh',  the  mod- 
est girl  is  as  little  conscious  of  them  as  of  the  reason  for  the 
occasionally  recurring  mode  of  making  certain  portions  of 
the  body  more  prominent;  to  say  nothing  of  corsets,  etc."  ' 
1  Kralit-Ebing,  loc.  cit.,  p.  15. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    l55 

In  some  of  these  ballrooms  one  may  see  upward  of  an 
acre  of  bare  slioulders  and  bosoms  and  arms,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  doubt  that  many  men  are  sexually  inflamed  in 
such  an  atmosphere.  In  fact,  these  accentuations  of  cos- 
tuming are,  at  bottom,  designed  for  that  very  jiurpose, 
though  the  unreflective  portion  of  humanity  do  not  realize 
it,  and  the  women  err  unconsciously.  "Were  a  pious 
Mussulman  of  Terghaua  to  be  present  at  our  balls,  and  see 
the  bare  shoulders  of  our  waves  and  daughters,  and  the 
semi-embraces  of  our  round  dances,  he  would  silently 
wonder  at  the  longsufferiug  of  Allah,  who  had  not  long 
ago  poured  fire  and  brimstone  on  this  sinful  and  shameless 
generation." ' 

The  beautiful  attribute  of  feminine  modesty  is  at  the 
best  put  to  a  severe  strain  in  the  ballroom,  for  the  women 
meet  men,  many  of  them  impure,  under  circumstances 
which  cannot  bear  analysis.  Women  are  largel}'  to  blame 
for  apatheticallj'  i:»ermitting  such  improperly  seductive 
attire  to  be  worn,  and  for  receiving  and  even  welcoming 
into  their  circles  men  who  are  known  to  be  unfit  for  intro- 
duction to  young  girls ;  in  no  surer  way  could  they  con- 
tribute to  the  humiliation  of  their  own  sex. 

Of  course  dancing  is  fun !  Who  can  resist  the  fascina- 
tion of  the  enchanting  music  which  compels  the  muscles 
to  move  in  graceful  cadence?  Of  course  it  must  be  intoxi- 
catingly  j^leasurable  to  feel  that  one  is  so  beautiful  and  so 
attractive  to  the  men;  and  of  course  it  is  a  treat  for  men 
to  mix  with  women  who  should  be  at  home  in  their  bou- 
doirs until  more  fittingly  attired.  But  fun  never  excuses 
sin,  nor  can  it  be  ofi^ered  as  a  palliation  for  practices  and 
customs  which  are  scientifically  known  to  be  subversive  of 
sexual  control. 

The  mind  naturally  enjoys  the  measured  cadence  and 
the  rhythmic  steps  of  dancing  to  music,  for  harmony  of 
sound  and  motion  is   more   intensely  sweet  than   either 

'  O.  Peschel,  "The  Races  of  Man,"  Eng.  Trans.,  London,  1876. 


156  HEREDITY  AND    MORALS. 

alone,  and  the  enjo}- ment  is  uaturallj-  greater  if  two  indi- 
viduals of  opposite  sexes  dance  together,  or  if  a  number 
harmoniously  execute  certain  evolutions  of  figures.  But 
the  trouble  lies  in  the  excess  of  enjoyment. 

In  the  ballroom  the  girl  feels  secure  because  she  knows 
that  she  is  safe  from  the  too-open  demonstrations  of  her 
partner.  Before  others  thej'  can  almost  hug  each  other  to 
music,  jjlace  their  arms  round  each  other,  and  revel  in  the 
intoxicating  fancies  which  are  induced  by  the  attractions 
of  sex,  of  apparel,  perfume,  music,  etc.  And,  in  addition, 
there  is  often  a  vivaciousness  of  irresponsibility  with  all 
this  which  is  further  courted  at  the  punch-bowl ;  and  alcohol 
is  known  to  have  a  far  more  erotic  effect  on  women  than  on 
men.  Such  scenes  could  not  be  enacted  in  private  and 
without  music. 

"Who  quarrels  with  dancing?  But  then,  peoj^le  must 
dance  at  their  own  risk.  If  Lucy  Lamb,  by  dancing  with 
young  Boose}^  when  he  is  tipsy,  shows  that  she  has  no  self- 
respect,  how  can  I,  coolly  talking  with  Mrs.  Lamb  in  the 
corner,  and  gravely  looking  on,  respect  the  3'oung  lady? 
Lucy  tells  me  that  if  she  dances  with  James  she  must 
dance  with  John.  I  cannot  deny  it,  for  I  am  not  suffi- 
ciently familiar  with  the  regulations  of  the  mystery.  Only 
this :  If  dancing  with  sober  James  makes  it  necessarj^  to 
dance  with  tips}^  John— ^it  seems  to  me,  upon  a  hast}' 
glance  at  the  subject,  that  a  self-respecting  Lucy  would 
refrain  from  the  dance  with  James.  Why  Lucy  must 
dance  with  every  man  who  asks  her,  whether  he  is  in  his 
senses,  or  knows  how  to  dance,  or  is  agreeable  to  her  or 
not,  is  a  profound  mystery  to  Paul  Potifar."  * 

If  a  list  were  made  of  the  gentlemen's  names  at  almost 
any  large  ball,  manj^  of  them  would  be  erased  by  a  careful 
censor  as  unfit  for  association  with  decent  women.  This 
is  no  mere  matter  of  opinion,  but  an  incontrovertible  fact; 
and  those  are  blind  indeed  who  cannot  see  that  the  modern 

1  George  William  Curtis. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    157 

ball,  witL.  every  feature  in  it  sensuous  and  seductive,  is  what 
we  call  a  secondary  sexual  love-feast,  and  that  its  present 
tendency  is  not  in  tlie  direction  of  jjurity  or  a  high  civili- 
zation. It  must  be  remembered  tliat  many  of  tlie  men, 
and  for  that  matter  many  of  the  women  as  well,  are  the 
descendants  of  ancestors  who  were  lustful  and  i^erverse  in 
their  inclinations,  and  that  such  are  congenitally  vicious 
and  abnormal  in  their  sexual  proclivities.  To  these  the 
foregoing  facts  are  especially  applicable,  and  the  grossest 
evils  are  of  course  produced  on  their  neuropathic  disposi- 
tions. 

For  all  these  reasons  we  must  place  dancing,  as  usually 
practised,  in  the  category  of  those  influences  which  pro- 
mote laxity  of  morals,  and  perhaps  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
province  of  preaching  upon  this  topic  belongs  more  to  the 
physician  than  to  the  clergyman. 

The  Modern  Stage  is  an  important  factor  in  debasing 
public  opinion  and  sexually  overstimulating  the  passions 
of  a  large  number  of  individuals. 

Nations  at  all  periods  of  history  have  delighted  in  some 
form  of  drama ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  grand  and  en- 
nobling pla^s,  well  presented,  have  an  educational  influence 
of  much  value,  and  that  they  afford  a  legitimate  gratifica- 
tion of  the  nornjal  play-instinct  of  mankind. 

But  we  cannot  fail  to  notice  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
modern  plays  and  operas  have  as  essential  elements  of  the 
plot,  or  of  the  costuming,  something  which  is  unmistakably 
immoral,  salacious  and  erotic.  In  fact,  there  is  a  glorifi- 
cation of  vice,  and  modesty  and  morality  are  put  to  shame. 
Lasciviousness  and  the  waving  of  enchanting  jjetticoats 
have  largely  rei)laced  oratory  and  fine  acting. 

"Now,  what  we  get  on  the  English  stage  is  the  gross- 
ness  without  the  vice — or,  to  j^ut  it  more  accurateh%  the 
vulgarity  without  the  open  presentation  of  vice.  You  may 
mean  anything,  so  long  as  you  say  something  else.  Al- 
most every  farcical  comedy  or  comic  opera — to  leave  the 


158  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

music  hall  alone — is  vitiated  by  a  vein  of  vulgar  indecency 
wliicli  is  simph'  despicable.  The  aim  of  the  artist  is  not 
to  conceal  art — there  is  none  to  conceal — but  to  conceal  his 
indecencies  decentlj',  and  yet  in  the  most  readily  discover- 
able manner." ' 

That  the  tendencies  are  pernicious  cannot  be  disputed 
when  we  see  such  prominence  given  to  the  ballet,  skirt- 
dances,  living  pictures,  and  to  every  other  device  sugges- 
tive to  the  eye  and  imagination.  Some  of  the  shameless 
"leg  artistes"  who  have  invaded  the  stage,  though  in  no 
sense  actresses  nor  even  artistic  ballet-dancers,  have  gained 
far  more  notoriety  and  wealth  bj'  their  indecent  exhibitions 
than  the  legitimate  jjerformers  have  been  able  to  do.  The 
stage-dance  is  sensual  in  every  respect ;  the  costumes  must 
be  spicy,  and  the  draperies — sometimes  scanty,  sometimes 
voluminous — are  moved  in  the  most  suggestive  ways  under 
the  effects  of  colored  searchlights,  etc. 

A  woman  who  has  no  talent  whatever  as  an  actress  can, 
nevertheless,  often  cause  a  furore  and  draw  large  crowds 
to  see  her  if  she  will  strii:)  herself  of  clothing  to  the  extreme 
limits  tolerated  by  law,  and  supply-  some  sort  of  an  apol- 
ogy for  such  an  appearance.  The  studj^  of  these  so-called 
actresses  seems  to  be  constantly  to  devise  something  bolder 
and  more  indelicate  than  what  any  one  else  has  brought 
out ;  and  in  this  way  they  attract  large  crowds  of  men  and 
women,  and  receive  enormous  salaries  from  their  managers. 

Of  course  no  real  lady,  if  she  were  reflective,  could  think 
of  allowing  herself  to  be  seen  in  such  an  assemblage  where 
semi-nude  women  are  openly  degrading  her  sex,  nor  would 
a  true  gentleman  attend  places  where  he  could  not  take  the 
ladies  of  his  famih^ 

"  Ladies,  who,  whether  they  are  married  or  unmarried, 

are  in  England  x)resumed  to  be  agnostics  in  sexual  matters, 

will  roar  themselves  hoarse  over  farces  whose  stories  could 

only  be  told  to  the  ultra-marines.     Ibsen  may  not  untie  a 

'  Zangwill,  "  Without  Prejudice,"  p.  176. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    159 

shoe-latcliet  in  the  interest  of  trutli,  while  Euglisli  bur- 
lesque managers  may  i)ut  an  army  of  girls  into  tights."  ' 

To  such  an  extent  do  many  actresses  minister  to  the 
gratification  of  the  sensual  desires  of  the  public,  by  the 
subtle  art  of  suggestion,  or  by  artistic  lasciviousness,  that 
the  police  have  to  keep  a  constant  watch  over  the  theatres 
in  order  to  prevent  the  most  flagrant  indecencies. 

At  the  World's  Fair  in  Chicago  all  kinds  of  new  sensual 
dances  were  introduced  into  the  country  from  all  j)arts  of  the 
world,  the  most  familiar  to  the  public  being  the  "  Danse  du 
Ventre,"  and  the  "Kutchi-Kutchi."  Those  who  saw  these 
performances  could  iiot  fail  to  realize  that  they  were  be- 
holding almost  naked  i^rostitutes,  who  were  using  every 
effort  in  their  power  to  sexually  excite  the  audience ;  and, 
to  a  lesser  degree,  the  same  can  almost  be  said  of  the  ballet- 
girls,  who  manage  their  limbs  and  their  scanty  drapery 
in  ways  which,  to  say  the  least,  are  impossible  for  j)ure 
womanhood.  These  girls  who  i^erform  in  the  ballet,  or 
who  otherwise  appear  in  immodest  parts,  can  be  put  down, 
not  invariably,  but  almost  without  exception,  as  loose 
women.  Subjected  to  familiarity,  coarse  jests,  and  sensual 
admiration,  and  being  as  a  matter  of  course  both  vain  and 
poor,  they  fall  easy  victims  to  the  debased  profligates  and 
fast  young  men  who  are  so  easily  admitted  to  their  ac- 
quaintance. 

Both  in  Europe  and  America  these  so-called  actresses — 
the  chorus-girls  and  dancers — are  classified  en  masse  as 
loose  women,  and  they  are  known  by  the  medical  profes- 
sion to  be  more  uniformly  infected  with  venereal  disease 
than  are  any  other  class  of  women.  Nor  can  this  be  won- 
dered at :  Going  from  town  to  town,  drinking  and  carous- 
ing with  impure  men  in  raj^id  succession,  elated  by  their 
association  with  so-called  gentlemen  who  are  above  their 
station  in  life,  thej''  usually  submit  to  the  sexual  embrace 
under  the  disadvantageous  necessity  of  secrecy  and  with- 
^  Zangwill,  loc.  cit.,  p.  178. 


160  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

out  any  attemi^t  at  liygieiiic  precautious,  and  as  a  natural 
result  tliey  almost  iiuiformly  acquire  venereal  disease. 
The  modern  stage  is  known  to  be  the  hotbed  of  impurity 
and  divorce,  and  the  actress  of  note  who  is  not  a  divorcee 
or  who  has  a  clean  reputation  is  the  exception. 

Mary  Anderson  says  in  her  book  that  it  was  "  the  hap- 
piest day  in  my  life  when  I  quit  the  stage  forever";  and 
Madame  Janauschek  says :  "  The  best  thing  for  a  young 
girl  to  do,  no  matter  how  great  she  exjiects  to  become,  is 
to  keep  away  from  the  theatre,  and  do  an3'thing  but  go 
upon  the  stage.     This  is  what  I  tell  them  all." 

Olive  Logan,'  herself  an  actress  of  note,  whose  father, 
mother,  and  five  sisters  were  members  of  the  theatrical 
profession,  felt  obliged  to  abandon  the  stage,  and  w'rote : 
"  I  can  advise  no  honorable,  self-respecting  woman  to  turn 
to  the  stage  for  support,  with  its  demoralizing  influences, 
which  seem  to  be  growing  stronger  and  stronger  day  by 
day ;  where  the  greatest  rewards  are  won  by  a  set  of  brazen- 
faced, clog-dancing  creatures,  with  dyed  yellow  hair  and 
padded  limbs,  who  have  come  here  in  droves  from  across 
the  ocean."  Little  improvement  certainly  has  come  about 
since  her  day. 

It  is  a  deplorable  thing  for  the  nation  that  so  many  of 
its  pure  women  will  consent  to  patronize  these  improper 
amusements,  where  thej^  appear  to  revel  in  an  improper 
curiosity  for  beholding  vice  in  romantic  and  interesting 
guises,  and  where  they  calmly  behold  before  the  glare  of 
the  footlights  the  open  putting  to  shame  of  feminine  mod- 
esty and  everything  characteristic  of  true  womanhood. 
Secure  in  the  feeling  that  there  is  a  respectable  audience 
around  them,  they  display  no  embarrassment  at  things 
wdiich  they  would  not  tolerate  in  their  own  homes,  or  anj'^- 
where  else  than  at  the  theatre. 

The  strongest  force  which  should  operate  against  the 
terrible  licentiousness  of  the  times  will  continue  to  remain 
«  "  Women  and  Theatres, "  p.  138 ;  1869. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.     161 

inert  so  long  as  pure  women  countenance  and  supj)ort  tliese 
amusements;  for  unquestionabh'  tlie  erotic  stimuli  which 
emanate  from  tlie  modern  stage  cause  tlie  gravest  injury 
to  the  mental  health  cf  the  community,  and  i:»oison  the 
sources  from  w'hich  the  stability  and  morality  of  future 
generations  must  spring. 

The  Nude  and-  the  Yulgar  in  Art. 

The  loveliness  of  the  rej^resentations  of  perfect  types  of 
men  and  women  is  too  grand  a  theme  to  be  x>rudisli  about ; 
and  without  question  it  is  an  advantage  to  a  community  if 
they  can  have  erected  in  their  midst  a  perfect  type  of  figure 
whose  beauty,  whose  strength,  w'hose  grace  and  dignity 
they  can  emulate. 

No  noble  bronze  or  marble  statue  can  have  any  improper 
suggestion  in  it  for  the  pure,  nor,  if  it  come  from  the 
workshop  of  an  artist  who  is  free  from  vulgarity,  can  it 
afford  am'  stimulus  to  the  prurient.  The  best  examples  of 
the  statues  of  the  ancient  Greeks  are  certainly  in  no  way 
offensive  to  modesty,  and  clothing  w^ould  seem  altogether 
out  of  i:»lace  upon  them ;  but  when  modern  sensual  realism 
attempts  the  same  task  the  impression  is  usually  conveyed 
that  the  statues  are  naked,  and  that  they  are  designed  by 
their  suggestive  postures  to  awaken  sensual  feelings. 

True  Art,  when  it  has  taken  lofty  and  pure  subjects  for 
illustration,  has  indeed  done  much  for  civilization;  so 
that  we  must  grant  to  the  painter  and  the  sculptor,  if  their 
works  show  forth  the  purity  of  their  hearts  and  minds,  a 
position  in  the  forefront  of  the  world's  benefactors. 

True  Art  is  in  harmony  with  Nature,  and  must  l^e  true 
as  far  as  it  goes,  ior,  as  Fairholt  says,  "  Truth  is  the  high- 
est quality  in  Art." 

Nature  and  true  Art  cannot  be  at  variance,  for  Art  is 
merely  a  method  of  recording  on  canvas,  or  bronze,  or  stone 
the  glories  andfthe  truths  of  Jj^ature^  so  that  even  the  quar- 
JLl 


162  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

ries  can  be  made  by  the  liands  of  men  to  ennoble  tlie  ideals 
of  liumanity  and  to  point  our  desires  ujjward. 

Would  that  in  each  community  there  could  stand  statues 
of  a  glorious  type  of  unblemished  manhood  and  of  a  glori- 
ous type  of  maternal  womanhood,  all  models  of  their  sex, 
with  all  the  expression  of  nobleness  in  their  countenances, 
and  showing  forth  in  every  lineament  the  majesty  of  a 
spotless  purity,  and  the  ideal  standards  of  fitness  for  the 
hallowed  duties  of  parentage ! 

True  Art  is  by  far  too  noble  to  seek  to  amuse ;  but,  on  the 
other  hand,  much  of  the  material  that  is  labeled  "  art"  is  in- 
tensely vulgar,  because  it  presents  Nature  in  the  aspect  of 
a  buffoon.  Xone  deplore  this  vulgarity  so  keenly  as  the 
true  artists  who  are  actuated  by  noble  inspirations. 

Society,  however,  is  showing  a  taste  and  even  a  craving 
for  the  nude  and  the  suggestive  in  art  which  has  over- 
stei:)ped  the  bounds  of  decency. 

Modern  ingenuity  has  made  it  possible  to  reproduce  by 
engravings  and  chromo-lithographs  thousands  of  pictures 
at  a  minimum  cost;  and  as  a  result  lewd  illustrations  are 
distributed  everywhere,  in  the  paj^ers  and  magazines,  in 
cigarette  boxes,  on  the  fences  as  theatrical  posters,  and,  in 
fact,  wherever  they  are  likely  to  catch  the  public  attention. 

The  employment  of  female  models  who  are  required  to 
pose  in  the  nude  is  a  custom  of  the  artist  which  is  un- 
doubtedly productive  of  much  harm.  If  a  physician  were 
to  needlessh'  expose  a  ])atient  he  would  be  severely  con- 
demned as  unjirofessional ;  but  surely  Art  cannot  be  on 
such  a  lofty  pedestal  as  to  require  the  sacrifice  of  the  mod- 
esty and  self-respect  of  young  girls  who  are  reduced  by 
necessitj'  to  offer  up  that  part,  at  least,  of  their  virtue.  If 
this  practice  is  a  necessity  for  the  good  of  civilization, 
then  it  is  proper  to  call  it  by  its  proper  designation — hu- 
man vivisection.  No  right-minded  parent  would  allow  a 
daughter  to  pose  in  scanty  attire  before  any  man,  however 
pure — for  it  is  well  known  that  it  is  exceptional  for  these 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.     163 

models  to  retain  tlieir  virginitj-.  It  is  certain  that  this 
degrading  class  of  work  is  responsible  for  the  downfall  of 
no  inconsiderable  number  of  young  women,  and  that  civili- 
zation is  in  no  way  advanced  bj^  suggestive  pictures,  how- 
ever artistic. 

Impuee  Liteeatuee. 

The  daily  press  is  a  power  in  the  community  for  both 
good  and  evil  which,  on  the  whole,  has  no  competitor. 
While  its  rightful  function  is  to  give  legitimate  news  and  to 
instruct  and  educate,  it  is,  on  the  other  hand,  too  often  the 
vehicle  of  untruth,  slander,  impurity,  sensationalism,  in- 
decency' and  licentiousness,  at  one  and  the  same  time  cater- 
ing to  and  begetting  a  vitiated  class  out  of  individuals  pre- 
disposed to  a  loose  manner  of  thought  and  action.  One  is 
almost  led  to  believe  that,  even  in  this  republic,  a  certain 
censorship  will  have  to  be  exercised  over  the  press  in  order 
to  check  the  moral  and  esthetic  devastation  which  so  many 
of  the  papers  are  producing. 

Too  often  they  spread  to  a  deplorable  extent  the  inmost 
details  of  private  scandal,  of  family  misfortune,  of  crime, 
filth,  and  wickedness  of  all  sorts.  If  any  unfortunate  one 
has  made  a  misstep,  or  attempted  suicide,  or  been  the 
victim  of  some  unusually  calamitous  circumstance,  the  pub- 
lished details,  while  injuring  a  certain  class  of  readers  and 
doing  good  to  none,  often  make  it  impossible  for  that  in- 
dividual to  recover  his  standing,  or  to  remain  in  his  ac- 
customed locality. 

By  its  advertisements,  the  press  pretty  generally  gives 
to  the  public  such  information  as  will  seemingl}^  help  them 
to  escape  the  consequences  of  licentiousness,  by  referring 
them  to  charlatans,  abortionists,  and  "baby-farmers." 

President  Cleveland,  in  February,  1897,  delivered  a  most 
scathing  criticism  upon  the  tendencies  of  modern  news- 
papers to  disseminate  corruption  when  he  denied  a  pardon 
to  the  editor  of  one  of  the  Chicago  dailies.     This  editor 


164  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

was  "sentenced  in  December,  1895,  in  Indiana,  to  two 
years'  imprisonment  and  $250  fine  and  costs  for  mailing 
obscene  literature."     Tlie  President  said: 

"  Denied.  Tliis  convict  was  one  of  the  editors  and  pro- 
prietors, and  a  distributor  tlirougli  tlie  niails  and  otherwise, 
of  a  disgustingly  vile  and  obscene  newsj^aper.  His  con- 
viction and  sentence  was  an  event  distinctly  tending  to  the 
promotion  of  public  morals  and  the  protection  of  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  our  laud  from  filth  and  corrui:)tion  at  a 
time  when  indecent  newspaper  x>ublications  are  so  dan- 
gerous and  common.  Everybody'  in  favor  of  cleanliness 
should  encourage  the  j^unishment  of  such  offences  and  de- 
sire that  it  should  be  more  frequently  imposed.  While 
I  am  much  surprised  by  the  number  of  respectable  people 
who  have  joined  in  urging  clemency  in  this  case,  my  duty 
seems  so  clear  that  I  am  not  in  the  least  tempted  to  inter- 
fere with  the  just  and  wholesome  sentence  of  the  court."  ' 

There  are  in  every  community  individuals  who  have 
stigmata  of  degeneration,  either  acquired  or  inherited. 
Such  persons  have  latent  instincts,  which  are  acted  on  un- 
favorably by  this  sensational  and  impure  literature,  by  the 
ethics  which  are  often  applauded  in  novels,  and  by  the 
pornographic  illustrations  which  represent  the  sole  output 
of  some  publishing  houses. 

■'  Alas  !  that  the  greed  for  gain  should  turn  the  mighty 
press  of  this  land  into  engines  of  corruption.  The  degrad- 
ing of  our  youth  is  a  crying  evil  to-day.  It  is  a  seed-sowing 
from  which  brothels,  dives,  prisons,  penitentiaries,  asy- 
lums, and  early  graves  are  fast  being  recruited. 

"  The  report  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppres- 
sion of  Vice,  which  is  about  completed  for  1895,  while  it 
shows  gratif^•ing  results,  shows  also  cause  for  alarm. 

"  The  matters  destroyed  are  one  thing.  But  the  matters 
which  are  to-day  at  large  (worse  than  ravenous  beasts  or 
poisonous  serpents),  i:)rowling  about  the  country  and  trail- 
J  Washington  Post,  February  25,  1897. 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    165 

ing  their  slimy  aucl  venomous  form  among  the  youth  in  our 
institutions  of  learning,  is  an  entirely  different  thing. 

"  That  rej)ort  contains  the  arrest  of  2,044  persons,  and  the 
seizure  of  63,139  pounds  of  books,  27,424  pounds  of  stere- 
otype i:)lates  for  printing  books,  836,096  obscene  pictures, 
and  5,895  negatives  for  making  the  same.  Also  96,680 
articles  for  immoral  use,  1,577,441  circulars,  catalogues, 
songs,  and  leaflets,  32,883  newspapers,  1,102,620  names 
and  post-office  addresses  seized  in  hands  of  dealers  to  which 
circulars  were  being  sent."  ^ 

Even  the  most  respectable  men  and  women,  knowing  not 
what  they  do,  both  read  and  applaud  the  book  which  is 
strongly  suggestive  of  the  "  Quartier  Latin"  of  Paris,  and 
other  books  which  hintingly  portray  the  sensual  side  of 
humanity.  Through  a  dense  ignorance  of  the  sexual  side 
of  human  nature,  they  fail  to  observe  abuses  of  decency 
which  are  at  once  apparent  to  the  medical  profession. 

The  world's  hardest  problem  has  been  the  subjugation 
of  this  social  evil  of  imj^urity ;  partl}^  because  society  is 
distinguished  for  its  ignorance  regarding  the  sexual  life, 
having  as  a  rule  only  one  idea,  and  that  a  wrong  one ;  and 
partly  because  every  advance  which  civilization  makes  is 
met  by  the  hostile  ridicule  of  the  uninformed,  by  scurrilous 
literature,  by  indecent  advertisements,  by  sensually  sug- 
gestive plays,  by  the  indecencies  of  fashion  and  the  ball- 
room, and  by  many  other  causes  which  operate  to  maintain 
in  a  consant  state  of  stimulation  the  cerebral  centres  which 
I^reside  over  the  generative  functions. 

Tlie  following  quotation  succinctly  sums  up  a  vast 
amount  of  profound  wisdom,  each  clause  of  which  at  once 
suggests  the  active  measures  which  must  be  taken  for  the 
preservation  of  the  nation: 

'  "Demoralizing  Literature,"  by  Anthony  Comstock.  Abstract 
of  a  paper  read  at  the  New  York  American  Purity  Alliance  Con- 
ference. 


166  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

"  See  the  wiles  and  activity  and  open  warfare  of  impu- 
rity. The  popular  literature  of  the  day  is  largely  subser- 
vient to  it.  Novels  exhaling  its  stench  burden  news-stands 
and  book  agents'  baskets.  Evil  pai)ers  obtain  readers  by 
the  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  drive  out  of  the  market 
self-respecting  and  decent  i^ublications.  Painting  and 
sculpture,  whose  mission  it  should  be  to  elevate  and  ennoble 
the  mind  by  the  representations  of  humanity's  best  deeds, 
reveal  the  human  form  in  hideous  suggestiveness.  The- 
atrical i^osters  are  to  our  young  people  unmistakable  ob- 
ject-lessons in  lasciviousness,  and  the  stage,  M'hicli  might 
be  one  of  the  most  useful  interpreters  of  wisdom  and  virtue, 
not  infrequently  becomes  the  panderer  to  lowest  passions. 
Cultured  society  serves  the  interests  of  vice  by  its  immodest 
fashions  in  dances  and  in  female  dress.  Public  opinion  is 
debased;  virtue,  it  is  thought,  is  sufficiently  avenged  when 
a  fallen  woman  is  declared  an  outcast ;  but  the  man  Avho 
compassed  her  ruin  goes  scot-free,  and  is  the  welcome 
visitor  to  club  and  drawing-room.  Laws  against  open  im- 
morality are  dead  letters.  Tempters  to  sin  ^^romenade  un- 
molested our  streets ;  homes  of  iniquity  flaunt  their  wick- 
edness before  the  public  gaze;  orgies  born  of  demons 
occur  in  pul^lic  halls  with  the  avowed  connivance  of  the 
police.  Sin  sets  itself  up  as  a  profession  under  shadowy 
names  through  which  the  purpose  is  easily  read,  and  ad- 
vertises itself  through  the  columns  of  our  newspapers. 
Base  men  and  women  go  around  entrapping  unwary  girl- 
hood into  lives  of  shame;  procurers  and  procuresses  are 
constantly  prowling,  as  so  many  jackals,  in  search  of  hu- 
man bodies  to  cast  them  in  prey  to  cruel  lust. 

"Laws  protect  sin.  The  child  of  ten  or  fourteen  3- ears 
in  many  places  is  presumed  to  be  of  sufficient  age  to  barter 
away  her  innocence,  and  her  seducer  cannot  be  convicted 
of  criine.  There  are  States  in  the  country  where  the  viola- 
tion of  a  woman  is  no  violation  of  law,  if  her  color  is  not 
Caucasian  white.     The  impudence  of  vice  attempts  to  go 


INFLUENCES  WHICH  INCITE  TO  SEXUAL  IMMORALITY.    167 

furtlier,  and  demands  that  infamy  be  licensed  by  law,  that 
women  be  stamped  with  the  badge  of  professional  vice,  and 
that  the  partners  in  their  iniquity  be  protected  by  the  law 
of  the  land  and  be  secured  by  legal  inquests  from  the  dis- 
eases to  which  criminal  indulgence  might  otherwise  expose 
them.'" 

The  mere  fact  that  fashionable  society  sanctions  a  custom 
does  not,  as  a  rule,  recommend  it;  for  society  is  jealous  of 
restrictions  which  interfere  with  its  jjleasure,  and  becomes 
bored  by  any  appeal  to  be  very  good. 

Even  the  heathen,  who  are  quick  to  see  the  evidences  of 
sensuality,  would  be  shocked  at  many  of  our  fashions  and 
customs. 

Dr.  Butler,  in  "The  Land  of  the  Yeda,"  says  in  refer- 
ence to  the  Nautch  girls : 

"No  man  in  India  would  allow  his  wife  or  daughter  to 
dance ;  and  as  to  dancing  with  another  man,  he  would  for- 
sake her  forever  as  a  woman  lost  to  virtue  and  modesty 
if  she  were  to  attempt  it.  In  their  observation  of  white 
women  there  is  nothing  that  so  much  perplexes  them  as  the 
fact  that  fathers  and  husbands  ^vill  i)ermit  their  wives  and 
daughters  to  indulge  in  promiscuous  dancing.  No  argu- 
ment will  convince  them  that  the  act  is  such  as  a  virtuous 
female  should  practise,  or  that  its  tendency  is  not  licen- 
tious. The  prevalence  of  the  practice  in  '  Christian  '  na- 
tions makes  our  holy  religion — which  they  suppose  must 
allow  it — to  be  abhorred  by  many  of  them,  and  often  it  is 
cast  in  the  teeth  of  our  missionaries  when  preaching  to 
them.  But  what  would  these  heathens  say  could  they  enter 
our  opera-housei^  and  theatres,  and  see  the  shocking  ex- 
posure of  their  persons  which  our  public  women  there 
present  before  mixed  assemblies !  Yefe  they  would  be  ten 
times  more  astonished  that  ladies  of  virtue  and  reputation 
should  be  found  there,  accompanied  by  their  daughters,  to 

•  Archbishop  Ireland's  address,  delivered  at  the  World's  Congress 
on  Socal  Purity. 


168  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

witness  tlie  siglit,  and  that,  too,  in  the  presence  of  the  othei 
sex !  But  then,  they  are  only  heathens,  and  don't  appre- 
ciate the  high  accomplishments  of  Christian  civilization! 
Still  Heaven  grant  that  the  future  Church  of  India  may 
ever  retain  at  least  this  item  of  the  prejudices  of  their 
forefathers !" 

A  thoughtful  person  cannot  help  observing  that  these 
times  are  characterized  by  the  reckless  abuse  of  stimulants, 
material  and  mental,  to  which  we  are  fast  becoming  slav- 
ishly addicted.  Besides  alcoholic  stimulants,  we  are  pre- 
sented at  ever}'  turn  with  literary,  dramatic,  political, 
artistic  and  other  excitants  which  the  general  public  seems 
to  demand  for  its  mental,  moral  and  physical  nourish- 
ment. The  battle  against  imjiurity  cannot  prevail  unless 
at  least  the  decent  members  of  the  community  shall  have 
high  standards  which  discountenance  sensuality,  and  un- 
less they  demand  equal  legal  rights  for  both  sexes,  and 
cease  to  heap  up  all  the  degradation  on  the  weaker  sex. 
Yirtue  in  a  nation  will  decline  unless  its  citizens  exhibit  a 
zeal  for  what  is  pure  and  good ;  and  no  nation  can  be  truly 
great  which  does  not  represent  in  the  aggregate  those  qual- 
ities which  are  great  in  the  individual. 

America,  being  related  to  e\erj  nation,  has  derived 
something  good  and  something  evil  from  all  of  them ;  and 
unless  we  court  a  national  tragedy-,  such  as  those  which 
have  blotted  out  whole  empires  in  the  past,  we  must  be 
awake  and  active,  and  demand  a  due  reverence  for  the 
family  life,  while  at  the  same  time  vigorouslj^  opposing 
every  influence  which  in  any  way  tends  to  degrade  it. 
Otherwise  we  cannot  be  ascendant  and  predominant  in  his- 
tory. National  decay  will  surely  follow  if  we  submit  to 
the  seductive  influences  of  the  times ;  and  unless  we  effec- 
tively combat  the  enemies  of  purity  and  decency,  there  is 
danger  that  those  at  least  who  are  city  bred  will  become 
morally  rotten. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PROSTITUTION  AJSTD  THE  INFLUENCES  THAT  LEAD  A  WOMAN 

INTO   SUCH  A  LEFE. 

Preliminary  Considerations. — The  harlot's  class  of  work 
is  quite  anomalous ;  in  every  profession  or  calling  in  life 
the  laborer  becomes  more  and  more  proficient  as  he  or  she 
gains  familiarity  with  the  work,  and  enjoys  an  increase  of 
pay  corresponding  to  the  length  of  service.  But  with  the 
harlot  the  highest  remuneration,  which  is  often  lavish, 
comes  first,  and  the  less  she  knows  about  her  business  the 
better.  In  fact,  hardly  any  woman  of  even  the  most  bril- 
liant attainments  can  earn  as  much  by  a  reputable  class  of 
work  as  an  attractive  and  fresh  young  girl  can  at  first  com- 
mand by  the  sale  of  her  person. 

To  an  ignorant  young  girl  in  straitened  circumstances 
and  of  immoral  proclivities  this  opportunity  comes  as  a 
great  temptation,  for  she  does  not  begin  to  conceive  of  the 
ruin  that  will  speedily  convert  her  into  a  cast-off  hag. 

As  heretofore  pointed  out,  if  the  harlot  be  a  necessity, 
then  she  should  be  granted  every  honor  which  we  could 
bestow  upon  her  for  her  self-sacrifice.  But  the  conditions 
are  quite  the  reverse.  She,  the  oppressed  and  deceived 
one,  is  harshly  treated,  while  he,  the  persuader  and  the 
liar,  is  condoned;  she,  who  earns  her  living  hy  i)rosti- 
tution,  comj^elled  perhaps  by  stern  necessity,  is  an  out- 
cast, while  he,  who  perhaps  spends  enough  on  venery  to 
support  a  family,  is  not  only  tolerated,  but  welcomed  by 
society. 

Thus  the  man  who  blasts  the  life  of  an  innocent  woman 
by  lying  devices  and  the  pretense  of  love  gets  not  a  tithe 


170  Heredity  and  morals. 

of  the  panisliment  of  the  ruined  oue.  To  her  the  injury  is 
irreparable;  to  him  the  injury  is  chieflj'  a  private  one  of 
dishonor. 

"The  whole  force  of  the  world's  opinion  has  been 
directed,  not  to  the  censure  of  actually  guiltj-  parties  who 
induced  the  crime,  but  to  the  poor  wronged  sufferer.  She, 
who  is  too  frequently  the  ^■ictim  of  falsehood  and  deceit,  or 
the  slave  of  an  absolute  necessity,  must  expiate  her  fault 
by  submitting  to  a  constant  succession  of  indignities  and 
anno3'ances.  He,  whose  conduct  has  made  her  what  she 
is,  escapes  all  censure.  But  some  moralist  will  ask,  'How 
would  you  have  us  treat  such  women?'  Treat  them,  sir, 
as  human  beings,  actuated  by  the  same  passions  as  your- 
self; as  susceptible  beings,  keenly  sensitive  of  reproach; 
as  injured  beings,  who  have  a  claim  upon  your  kindness; 
as  outraged  beings,  who  have  a  demand  upon  your  justice. 
Lead  them  into  a  path  by  which  they  can  escape  from  dan- 
ger; protect  the  innocent  from  the  snares  which  environ 
them  on  every  side.  And  when  this  is  done,  pour  the  vials 
of  your  hottest  wrath  on  those  of  your  own  sex  whose 
machinations  have  blighted  some  of  God's  fairest  created 
beings."  ' 

The  consequences  of  prostitution  fall  almost  solely  on 
the  woman.  The  man,  though  he  suffers  in  his  purse  or 
by  disease,  finds  no  impediment  to  securing  employment, 
no  social  bar,  no  objection  to  his  marrying  and  securing  a 
respectable  home,  no  obstacle  to  his  occupying  a  pew  in 
church,  or  to  his  holding  any  position  which  the  chaste 
man  may.  He  may  go  on  his  way  betraying  and  ruining 
girls,  spreading  disease,  begetting  illegitimate  offsjjring, 
and  working  into  the  hands  of  the  abortionist,  and  jet  go 
seemingly  unpunished;  but  certainly,  as  the  offender,  he 
is  inexpressibly  more  blameworthy  than  the  offended  one. 

To  make  a  girl  a  prostitute  is  easy — horribly  easy! 
The  steps  are  verj*  short  when  one  considers  them.  At 
I  Sanger,  "  History  of  Prostitution, ''  p.  642. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  171 

first  her  parents,  secure  in  tlie  belief  that  their  daughter 
cannot  do  wrong,  carelessly  allow  her  to  roam  the  streets 
by  day  or  night  with  young  men  whom  perhaps  they 
hardh'  know  by  sight.  Then  come  amusements  without 
chaperonage— the  carriage  drive,  the  dance-hall,  the  the- 
atre. After  the  theatre  the  young  man  perhaps  invites  her 
to  a  little  supper,  and,  if  she  is  foolish,  she  drinks  a  little 
wine  with  him.  Now  the  ramparts  of  her  moral  and  psy- 
chical nature  are  tottering,  and  she  both  allows  and  courts 
a  little  familiarity.  The  next  time,  perhaiis  under  the  in- 
fluence of  more  alcohol,  and  flattered  with  protestations  of 
love,  she  submits  herself  and  yields  her  virginity.  Preg- 
nancy i^robablj'  follows ;  she  goes  away  on  a  trip  with  him 
under  some  lying  pretext;  he  deserts  her;  she  perhaps 
cannot  go  home,  and  so  in  desperation  she  gets  iiito  a  cab 
and  is  driven  to  a  brothel.  Such  a  history  is  by  no  means 
uncommon  among  the  lower  and  middle  classes  of  society. 

When  it  is  necessary  for  a  girl  to  earn  her  own  living, 
perhaps  in  a  strange  city  and  without  anj'  protection,  it 
can  readily  be  seen  that  she  is  in  imminent  peril  if  she  al- 
low the  least  familiarity,  or  if  she  can  be  persuaded  to 
drink. 

A  girl  of  the  wealthier  classes,  no  matter  how  degraded 
she  may  become,  almost  never  sinks  to  a  life  of  prostitu- 
tion, for  few  women  follow  that  calling  from  any  other 
motive  than  necessity. 

Woman  is  by  nature  monogamous,  and  it  is  well  known 
that  almost  every  i^rostitute  has  her  "  lover" — one  among 
her  many  customers  to  whom  alone  she  is  loyal,  whom  she 
sometimes  supports,  and  from  whom  she  often  consents  to 
receive  the  most  cruel  treatment.  This  is  explained  by 
the  natural  adaptation  of  women  to  sexual  bondage,  and  by 
the  fact  that  the  supreme  wish  of  a  woman,  however  de- 
graded, is  forever  and  always  marriage  with  one  man 
whom  she  loves.  The  instincts  of  women  are  naturally  in 
the  direction  of  purity  and  the  home,  and  before  they  can 


172  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

be  led  to  become  prostitutes  these  natural  qualities  must 
either  be  perverted,  or  put  to  tlie  greatest  stress  by  temp- 
tation or  necessity,  or  otherwise  grievously  wounded. 

Deep  dishonor  is  due  to  men  who  argue  in  favor  of  pros- 
titution, for  the  methods  emj^loyed  to  recruit  brothels  are 
those  of  the  crafty  hunter  and  the  merciless  coward.  It 
is  the  innocent,  unsusiDecting,  unprotected  and  friendless 
young  girl  who  is  ambushed  and  entrapped  by  those  of 
both  sexes  who  frequent  these  places.  Little  hj  little,  and 
b}'  one  device  and  another,  suitable  to  each  victim,  the 
poor  girl  is  drawn  into  the  hunter's  net  and  ruthlessly  de- 
graded. And  furthermore,  those  who  haunt  these  resorts 
and  who  have  grown  old  in  their  experience  inveigle  their 
innocent  young  men  acquaintances  into  this  kind  of  life, 
telling  them  nothing  of  the  disease,  crime,  suffering  and 
lying  which  such  a  life  entails,  and  informing  them  not 
of  the  menace  to  their  whole  future  health  and  character. 
The  first  step  in  this  direction  has  turned  many  a  youth 
toward  a  career  of  crime  and  disgrace.  Impurity  is  the 
"  ill  wind"  that  blows  no  one  any  good.  For  some  callous 
and  seared  natures  there  may  be  a  certain  fool's  pleasure 
in  it,  but  no  happiness.  Pleasure  takes  no  thought  of  the 
consequences;  even  the  murderer  awaiting  execution  can 
take  pleasure  in  the  meal  of  his  choice,  but  happy  he  can- 
not be,  for  happiness  demands  an  assurance  of  future  joy 
and  security. 

Impurity  cannot  add  to  one's  hapi:)iness  when  he  reflects 
upon  the  sure  consequences  of  disease,  illegitimacy,  child- 
murder,  and  ultimate  annihilation  that  must  be  the  lot  of 
himself  and  his  partner  unless  they  repent,  make  amends, 
and  alter  their  ways.  "AYhen  Pleasure  treads  the  Paths 
which  Pieason  shuns,"  then  Death  treads  in  its  footsteps 
and  leads  inevitably'  to  the  destruction  of  every  quality 
which  is  dear  to  mankind ;  and  surely  the  destroyer  is  more 
guilty  than  the  destroyed. 

We  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  harlot  is  less 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  173 

guilty  than  the  seducer;  aud  as  we  study  the  causes  of 
her  downfall  let  us  ever  remember,  to  the  unutterable 
shame  of  our  sex,  that  woman's  extremity  is  man's  oppor- 
tunity. 

The  Influences  ichich  Direct  a  Woman  into  a  Life  of  Pros- 
tittition  are  as  numerous  as  human  weaknesses  and  misun- 
derstandings can  make  them — emanating  i^artly  from  men, 
partly  from  herself. 

One  would  think  that  a  woman  would  foresee  the  inevi- 
table ruin  that  awaits  her,  and  that  she  would  not  put  her- 
self in  the  w^ay  of  temptation.  Rarely  indeed  does  a  woman 
deliberately  enter  upon  this  life  from  choice,  but  she  is 
forced  into  it,  or  led  into  it,  either  by  some  indiscretion  on 
her  part,  or  infamy  on  the  part  of  another. 

Love,  flattery,  vanity,  irreligion,  indolence,  intemper- 
ance, necessity,  seduction,  postponement  of  marriage,  pe- 
culiar stress  of  temptation,  and  many  other  impulses  lead 
her  into  it.  The  sweets  come  first,  while  the  bitterness 
is  lost  sight  of. 

In  the  stud}'  of  the  factors  which  lead  to  prostitution  we 
must  recognize  that  a  certain  proportion  of  women  are 
"  strumpets  at  heart,"  as  men  so  often  say — though  without 
understanding  whj^  they  say  it. 

Lombroso,  in  "The  Female  Offender,"  has  shown  that 
there  is  "  an  intimate  correlation  between  bodily  and  mental 
conditions  and  processes,"  and  criminologists  recognize 
certain  stigmata,  or  anatomical  defects  and  peculiarities  in 
habitual  malefactors,  which  are  much  more  common  among 
them  than  among  the  normal  individuals  of  societ3^ 

Among  criminals,  especially  habitual  criminals,  we  find 
j)hysical  anomalies  of  various  parts  of  the  anatomj^  such 
as  abnormal  crania,  misshapen  ears,  eyes  on  a  different 
level,  or  eyes  too  near  together  or  too  wdde  apart,  crooked 
noses,  hare-lips,  cleft  palates,  highh^  arched  palates,  mal- 
formations of  the  teeth  or  tongue,  supernumerary  digits, 
abnormal  limbs  and  bodies,  etc.     In  fact,  there  is  found  to 


174  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

be  a  distinct  correlation  between  the  i)liysical  defects  and 
the  mental  processes.     This  is  a  law  in  criminology. 

Lombroso  classifies  courtezans  along  with  criminals,  and 
shows  by  strong  evidence  that  a  natural  courtezan  is  more 
clearly  marked  by  stigmata  as  an  offender  than  any  other 
class  of  criminals.  "  Almost  all  anomalies  occur  more  fre- 
quently in  prostitutes  than  in  female  offenders,  and  both 
classes  have  a  larger  number  of  the  characteristics  of  de- 
generation than  normal  women." ' 

From  measurements  of  a  large  number  of  harlots,  Lom- 
broso shows  that  they  are  remarkable  for  their  small 
cranial  capacities.  Heredity'  and  atavism  have  inclined 
many  to  this  sort  of  life,  and  thus  many  harlots  have 
"fallen  victims  to  their  grandfathers'  excesses";  or,  as 
South  says,  they  have  been  "  not  so  much  born,  as  damned, 
into  the  world"  through  the  sins  of  their  parents. 

Hysteria  is  exceedingly  common  among  harlots;  and  it 
is  well  known  that  hysterical  women  are  often  intensely 
erotic,  not  always  so  much  on  account  of  strong  lustful 
desire  as  on  account  of  a  passion  for  new  emotions  and  an 
intense  longing  for  stimuli  out  of  a  spirit  of  adventure. 
"  Legrand  du  Saulle  observed  that  12  i)eY  cent,  of  hysterical 
women  took  to  prostitution  out  of  sheer  dilettantism  with- 
out any  pressure  from  miserj',  and  Madame  Tarnowsky 
found  that  fifteen  per  cent,  of  prostitutes  were  hysterical."  ^ 

The  Lustful  Passion  in  Women. — In  the  vast  majority  of 
cases  the  desire  which  is  felt  by  women  for  sexual  gratifi- 
cation, regarded  merely  as  a  lustful  longing,  is  not  nearly 
so  strong  as  in  men,  but  to  this  rule  there  are  exceptions 
which  we  must  briefly  consider.  In  both  sexes  we  occa- 
sionally meet  with  a  pathological  increase  of  this  passion 
which  irresistibly  impels  them  to  seek  sexual  satisfaction 
without  any  moral  deterring  influence  being  exercised.  In 
man,  this  condition  is  called  Satyriasis;  in  woman,  Nym- 

»  Lombroso,  "The  Female  Offender,"  p.  85. 
'  Lombroso,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  243. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  175 

phomania.  Both  of  these  conditions  stand  on  the  border- 
land of  insanit}^  and  often  lead  to  maniacal  outbursts.  Of 
course,  there  are  varying  degrees  of  intensity  of  satyriasis 
and  nymxjhomania,  dependent  sometimes  upon  local  causes, 
sometimes  ui)on  constitutional  disease,  or  following  upon 
unnatural  stimulation  of  the  sexual  sphere  by  masturba- 
tion or  other  gross  perversions.  Such  cases  are  not  infre- 
quent in  every  insane  asylum. 

A  woman  with  nymphomania  is  more  excessive  in  her 
demands  than  a  man  who  is  the  subject  of  satyriasis,  partly 
because  he  can  find  some  relief  by  the  discharge  of  semen, 
while  she,  having  no  corresponding  alleviation,  is  driven  to 
any  or  all  means  to  satisfy  her  intolerable  cravings.  Such 
women  will  accept  the  embraces  of  any  man  whatsoever,  or 
practise  almost  continual  masturbation,  or  even  resort  to 
bestiality ;  and  so  intense  is  the  lustful  feeling  that  it  some- 
times clouds  all  conscience,  or  even  consciousness.  The . 
poor  victims  of  this  malady  are  acutely  insane  on  the  sub- 
ject, if  not  upon  others  as  well.  The  disease  being  proba- 
bly due  to  a  cerebral  lesion,  little  good  can  be  done  by 
removal  of  the  clitoris  and  ovaries. 

Nymphomania  will  account  for  the  occasional  pitiable 
lapses  of  virtue  on  the  part  of  women  who  have  been 
shielded  in  every  way  and  who  possess  all  the  inherent 
characteristics  of  ladyhood.  Cases  are  numerous  where 
these  disorganized  sufferers  have  wrongfully  sworn  by  the 
most  solemn  oaths  that  they  have  been  violated  by  some 
most  estimable  man,  such  as  their  doctor  or  minister,  or 
some  other  highly  reiDutable  person. 

Extreme  degrees  of  nymphomania  are  more  frequent 
than  extreme  degrees  of  satyriasis,  but  sexual  neurasthenia 
with  an  unnatural  degree  of  lust,  short  of  satj^riasis,  is 
probably  more  common  in  the  male.  Men  who  suffer 
from  sexual  neurasthenia  as  a  result  of  giving  free  rein  to 
their  passions  eventually  reach  a  condition  in  which  their 
thoughts  are  solely  directed  to  sexual  matters,  and,  after 


176  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

natural  methods  cease  to  gratify-,  they  not  infrequently  re- 
sort to  the  grossest  perversions  of  sodomy,  bestiality,  etc. 

The  victim  of  satyriasis  is  au  exceedingly  dangerous  mem- 
ber of  the  community ;  and  such  men  have  often  been  driven 
to  rape  and  lust-murder,  to  acts  of  hair-cutting  on  women, 
to  exhibition  of  the  private  parts  in  public,  and  to  any  or 
all  of  the  gross  j)erversions. 

Nymphomania  leads  the  sufferer  to  submit  to  any  deg- 
radation, to  solicit  men  and  hojs,  to  use  indecent  language, 
and  to  shamelessly  expose  herself ;  it  transforms  the  woman 
into  an  irresponsible  person  who  seeks  not  to  hide,  but 
rather  to  make  a  spectacle  of  her  sexual  fury. 

It  has  seemed  necessary  to  speak  of  this  pitiable  j)atho- 
logical  condition  so  that  there  shall  be  no  misunderstand- 
ing from  a  partial  exx)lanation  of  women's  lustful  passions. 
Normally,  a  virtuous  woman  has  very  much  less  sensual  de- 
sire than  a  man,  though  stronger  in  her  sexual  feelings,  as 
shown  by  her  greater  love  for  children  and  the  home.  If 
women  were  as  passionate  as  men  there  could  be  no  jpos- 
sibility  of  such  a  condition  of  society  as  we  now  en]oj — 
brothels  and  widespread  illegitimacy  would  sujaplant  mar- 
riages and  the  familj^  circle. 

Sexual  affairs  occupy  much  of  a  woman's  attention  from 
puberty  to  the  menopause,  for  once  exevj  lunar  month  she 
is  "unwell"  for  a  few  days;  and  if  she  become  a  mother, 
she  has  a  prolonged  gestation,  the  suckling,  the  nursing, 
and  the  rearing  of  the  child. 

Men  perform  their  sexual  function  at  one  time  as  well  as 
at  another,  and  the  act  is  soon  accomplished  and  ends 
without  further  result  to  them.  But  women  are  deterred 
from  intercourse  while  menstruating  and  during  the  later 
months  of  pregnancy ;  and  what  seems  a  simple  act,  occu- 
pying but  a  few  moments,  may,  and  probably  will,  alter 
their  whole  course  of  life.  Thus  the  act  of  fornication  is 
trivial  in  its  direct  results  upon  the  man,  all  the  after-con- 
sequences being  worked  out  upon  the  woman. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  177 

Men  who  frequent  brothels  often  find  that  the  inmates 
seem  to  have  passions  which  are  equal  in  intensity  to  their 
own;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  it  is  a  part  of  the 
business  of  prostitutes  to  practise  this  deception — for  few 
men  would  derive  the  slightest  satisfaction  from  a  frigid 
woman.  In  reality  these  harlots  rarely  enjoy  the  act, 
though  they  simulate  all  the  intensity  of  an  orgasm,  or 
pleasurable  venereal  sensation,  in  order  to  j)lease  their 
customers  and  influence  them  to  return. 

Almost  any  deception  or  pretext  satisfies  the  man  whose 
mind  is  filled  with  lustful  imaginations  and  desires;  and 
these  misleading  devices  are  employed  with  marked  and 
general  success  by  women  who  have  made  their  embraces 
matters  of  merchandise. 

Since  brothels  are  the  very  manufactories  of  lies,  the 
harlot's  word  uj^on  this  subject  cannot  be  received,  for 
her  very  success  in  trade  is  dei:>eudent  upon  seemingly 
insatiable  passions.  But  it  is  well  known  that  after  a 
woman  enters  upon  a  life  of  j)rostitution  she  soon  passes 
from  a  stage  of  hypergesthesia  to  anaesthesia,  i.e.,  from  a 
high  degree  of  erotic  feeling  to  one  of  almost  complete 
coldness,  and  that  she  soon  becomes  frigid  to  most  men. 
The  sexual  embrace  in  women  requires  for  its  full  enjoy- 
ment a  physiological  condition  of  love,  which  is  necessarily 
wanting  in  the  harlot. 

It  is  quite  certain,  then,  that  women  do  not  naturally 
possess  anything  like  the  degree  of  sensual  passion  which 
is  common  among  men,  and  that  the  psj'chical  elements  of 
love  and  confidence  play  a  much  more  intense  part  in  their 
enjoyment  of  the  act  than  do  the  physical  sensations. 

Granting  that  there  are  exceptions,  we  may,  however, 
almost  eliminate  the  lustful  desire  as  being  in  anj^  way  an 
important  impulse  in  leading  women  into  the  harlot's  man- 
ner of  life. 

Vanity  is  an  agency  which  indirectly  leads  to  the  ruin  of 
a  large  number  of  young  women 
12 


178  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

A  very  considerable  number  of  born  and  bred  ladies  un- 
questionably lapse  from  virtue,  but  tliey  rarely  sink  to  a 
life  of  prostitution  in  wliicli  tliey  expect  the  payment  of 
money  for  their  favors. 

The  vast  army  of  prostitutes  is,  on  the  other  hand,  al- 
most entirely  recruited  from  women  of  the  lower  walks  of 
life,  such  as  domestics,  shopgirls,  factory -girls,  emi'grants, 
chorus-girls,  ballet-dancers,  and  other  similar  classes. 

Conceit  of  their  personal  charms  or  adornments,  a  mor- 
bid craving  for  flattery,  desiro  for  indiscriminate  admira- 
tion, or  for  presents  or  applause,  and  an  overweening  long- 
ing for  the  society  and  companionship  of  "  fine  gentlemen," 
lead  them  at  first  to  walk  on  the  brink  of  the  precipice, 
over  which  they  soon  fall. 

A  girl  who  has  some  comeliness  of  face  or  figure,  and 
who  dresses  attractively,  may  keep  comi:)any  with  men  who 
are  socially  far  her  superiors,  and  sometimes  is  blinded  by 
the  opportunities  to  enjoy  wine  suppers  and  the  "friend- 
shii)"  of  men  whom  she  could  not  ai^proach  without  con- 
senting to  do  things  bordering  on  the  verge  of  a  downfall. 
First  comes  the  flirtation,  then  the  secret  meetings,  the 
caresses  and  fondling,  the  protestations  of  regard  or  even 
love,  and  then  the  deadfall  trap,  which  is  so  set  in  the 
dreadful  ditch  as  to  fall  upon  and  crush  her. 

When  a  girl  of  fair  intelligence  who  has  to  work  for  a 
living  looks  about  and  thinks,  she  must  observe  that  no 
industrial  career  offers  immediate  returns  which  will  in 
any  way  compare  with  the  amount  of  money  she  can  make 
by  adopting  the  life  of  a  courtezan.  She  must  observe  that 
the  same  men  who  treat  her  insolently  and  heartlessly  as 
employers  of  her  labor  will  shower  favors  upon  her  if  she 
will  give  up  her  person  to  them.  By  selling  the  first  bloom 
of  her  youth  and  beauty  she  can,  without  the  slightest  ex- 
ertion, indulge  herself  in  every  vain  wish  of  her  heart, 
such  as  expensive  clothing,  jewels,  rich  living,  and  asso- 
ciation with   "gentlemen."      If  she  remain  virtuous   she 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  179 

sees  no  reward,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  a  life  of  toil  and 
plain  dressing,  rebuffs  and  contumely  from  her  taskmas- 
ters, and  no  possibility  of  coming  into  friendly  contact  with 
the  upper  classes.  "  Education  raises  many  poor  women 
to  a  stage  of  refinement  that  makes  them  suitable  compan- 
ions for  men  of  a  higher  rank,  and  not  suitable  for  those  of 
their  Own."  ' 

In  her  simplicity  she  does  not  see  the  penalties  of  dis- 
ease, pregnane}^  social  annihilation,  degradation  and 
death,  which  vice  exacts.  She  does  not  see  why  she 
should  be  working  in  drudgery  at  two  or  three  dollars  a 
week,  when  she  can  readily  earn  as  many  hundreds  of 
dollars  with  no  work,  and  enjoy  an  "elegant  infamy." 
The  business  of  prostitution,  then,  is  followed  by  better 
success  the  less  the  prostitute  knows  about  it,  and  the  rich 
rewards  come  first,  when  she  is  .young  and  pretty,  and  not 
faded  by  disease  and  debauchery.  Such  dangers  stand  in 
the  way  of  all  ignorant  and  vain  young  women  who  put 
themselves  in  the  line  of  temjDtation  at  theatres,  dance- 
halls,  picnics,  and  other  questionable  places  without  a 
chaperon. 

If  a  girl  in  this  country  becomes  a  mistress,  she  must 
consent  to  be  secluded,  and  cannot  have  her  vanity  com- 
pletely satisfied— for  men  here  do  not  dare  to  honor  their 
paramours  by  ax)pearing  with  them  in  full  view  of  the 
public,  as  they  so  often  do  in  Continental  Europe. 

Many  girls  have  in  them  a  good  deal  of  that  principle  or 
endowment  of  Nature  which  Ellice  Hopkins  calls  the 
"  black  kitten" — a  sort  of  daredevil  spirit  which  makes 
them  indiscreet  enough  to  try  their  hands  at  "  sowing  wild 
oats,"  and  which  lures  them  to  play  and  frolic  on  danger- 
ous ground,  though  they  do  not  mean  to  go  beyond  cer- 
tain limits. 

Ellice  Hopkins  well  says : '  "  Do  not  you  think  it  a  little 

'  Lecky,  "History  of  European  Morals,"  p.  145. 
2  "The  Ride  of  Death." 


180  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

hard  that  men  should  have  dug  bj^  the  side  of  her  foolish, 
dancing  feet  a  bottomless  pit,  and  that  she  cannot  have 
her  jump  and  fun  in  safety,  and  put  on  her  fine  feathers 
like  the  silly,  bird-witted  thing  she  is,  without  a  single 
false  step  dashing  her  over  the  brink,  and  leaving  her  with 
the  very  womanhood  dashed  out  of  her?" 

And  yet  vanity  alone  does  not  make  them  fall,  for  every 
girl  values  her  chastity  to  such  an  enormous  degree  that 
no  man  could  violate  it  without  some  subterfuge  of  love- 
making,  deceit,  bribery,  or  by  the  aid  of  intoxicants. 

Seduction. — Except  in  the  company  of  the  most  debased 
profligates,  from  whom  all  sense  of  chivalry  has  long  since 
departed,  no  man  would  for  a  moment  dare  to  sa^-  that  he 
had  been  the  first  to  dej^rive  a  woman  of  her  virtue ;  but 
such  is  the  low  degree  of  honor  to  which  licentiousness  has 
reduced  many  men,  that  they  consider  a  girl  who  has  once 
fallen,  no  matter  how  young  and  innocent,  their  legitimate 
prey,  and  eagerly  avail  tliemselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
be  number  two  in  helping  her  down  to  perdition.  Once  a 
girl  has  made  a  single  misstep,  every  lustful  man  is  against 
her  to  prevent  her  from  rising,  and  keeps  trampling  her 
down  and  pitilessly  leading  her  on  until  she  can  sink  no 
lower. 

In  her  descent  she  j^asses  through  the  hands  of  many 
men,  who,  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  ajipear  to  become  baser 
and  baser  as  the  woman  sinks  lower  and  lower  in  her  de- 
grading calling.  But  in  reality,  hy  far  the  Avickedest  man 
is  he  who  inflicted  the  first  terrible  injury,  and  next  in 
order  to  him  come  those  who  complete  his  work  of  seduc- 
tion by  trampling  out  of  her  every  vestige  of  womanhood. 

What  sensual  man  ever  goes  by  i^reference  to  confirmed 
X^rostitutes  when  he  has  the  choice  of  selecting  the  freshest 
and  sweetest  j^oung  girl  who  has  just  fallen?  And  yet 
those  who  think  themselves  men  allow  such  fellows  to  re- 
count their  detestable  success  with  these  attractive  3'oung 
girls  without  even  feeling  a  desire  to  kick  them  out  of 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  181 

their  society.  What  conceivable  excuse  can  be  offered  for 
tlie  cowardlj^  malefactors  who  complete  the  work  of  seduc- 
tion initiated  by  the  first  fiend ! 

No  one  who  is  normally  endowed  with  a  sense  of  chivalric 
manliness,  or  who  has  any  remnant  of  the  true  majesty  of 
his  sex,  will  for  a  moment  admit  to  his  friendship),  or  even 
companionship,  the  man  who  was  the  seducer,  nor  those 
who  completed  the  irrevocable  ruin,  of  a  maiden  who  might 
have  escaped  the  despair  of  an  existence  which  must  now, 
on  their  account,  be  terminated  by  the  blistering  anguish 
of  social  ostracism,  shattered  health,  and  a  loathsome  deg- 
radation, which,  if  it  does  not  drive  the  pitiable  victim  to  a 
suicide's  grave,  has  yet  removed  her  from  every  sweet  in- 
fluence which  they  themselves  are  permitted  to  enjoy  with- 
out even  any  vigorous  condemnation  from  the  girl's  own  sex. 

Mr.  Lecky,  the  historian  of  European  morals,  says  on 
this  subject : 

"  When  we  reflect  that  the  object  of  such  a  man  is  by  the 
coldest  and  most  deliberate  treachery  to  blast  the  life  of 
an  innocent  woman;  when  we  compare  the  levity  of  his 
motive  with  the  irreparable  injury  he  inflicts ;  and  when 
we  remember  that  he  can  only  deceive  his  victim  by  per- 
suading her  to  love  him,  and  can  only  ruin  her  by  persuad- 
ing her  to  trust  him,  it  must  be  owned  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  conceive  a  cruelty  more  wanton  and  more  heart- 
less, or  a  character  combining  more  numerous  elements  of 
infamy  and  dishonor." ' 

False  protestations  of  affection  lead  many  girls  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  seduced;  for  when  once  a  man  has  per- 
suaded a  woman  that  she  has  his  real  love,  he  has  over- 
thrown many  obstacles  to  her  reserve.  If  the  girl  can  be 
led  to  venture  upon  improper  escapades  with  him,  and 
especially  if  she  can  be  persuaded  to  drink,  she  is  almost 
at  his  mercy ^ — for  alcohol  paralyzes  a  woman's  power  of  ne- 
gation, and  renders  her  more  vivacious  and  amorous,  her 
*  Loc.  cit,  vol.  ii.,  p.  347. 


182  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

impulsive  temperament  being  far  more  susceptible  to  its 
influence  than  a  man's.  Indulgence  in  strong  drink  is  the 
precursor  of  a  downfall  from  virtue  for  her,  and  harlotry 
and  drunkenness  go  hand  in  hand.  * 

Most  ])rostitutes  claim  that  they  began  their  life  of  shame 
after  being  seduced,  and  in  the  large  majority  of  cases  they 
speak  the  truth.  Some  men  certainly  began  their  infamous 
careers  for  them,  perjured  themselves  that  they  might  have 
their  trivial  sport,  lacerated  their  delicate  sensibilities,  and 
polluted  their  consciences,  so  that  the  poor  women  have 
only  the  mere  recollection  of  feelings  of  self-respect.  Con- 
sequently they  now  feel  that  they  cannot  return  to  respec- 
table society'  as  the  men  do,  and  come  to  believe  that  they 
are  almost  right  in  giving  up  hojie  and  openly  soliciting 
favors  from  any  man. 

"  The  probabilities  of  a  decrease  in  the  crime  of  seduc- 
tion are  \ery  slight,  so  long  as  the  present  public  senti- 
ment prevails ;  while  the  seducer  is  allowed  to  go  unpun- 
ished and  the  full  measure  of  retribution  is  directed 
against  his  victim;  while  the  offender  escapes,  but  the 
offended  is  condemned.  Unprincipled  men,  read^'  to  take 
advantage  of  woman's  trustful  nature,  abound,  and  they 
pursue  their  diabolical  course  unmolested.  Legal  enact- 
ments can  scarcely  ever  reach  them,  although  sometimes  a 
poor  man  without  friends  or  money  is  indicted  and  con- 
victed. The  remedy  must  be  left  to  the  world  at  large. 
When  our  domestic  relations  are  such  that  a  man  known 
to  be  guilt}'  of  this  crime  can  obtain  no  admission  into  the 
family  circle ;  when  the  virtuous  and  respectable  members 
of  the  community  agree  that  no  such  man  shall  be  wel- 

•  "Among  the  many  safeguards  of  female  purity  in  the  Roman  re- 
public was  an  enactment  forbidding  women  even  to  taste  wine  ;  and 
this  very  intelligible  law,  being  enforced  with  the  earliest  education, 
became  at  last,  by  habit  and  traditionary  reverence,  so  incorporated 
with  tho  moral  feelings  of  the  people  that  its  violation  was  spoken 
of  as  a  monstrous  crime." — Lecky,  loc.  eit,  p.  93. 


I 


PKOSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  183 

corned  to  their  society;  when  worth  and  honor  assert  their 
supremacy  over  wealth  and  boklness,  there  may  be  hopes 
of  a  reformation,  but  not  till  then."  * 

Any  true  man  would  exert  all  his  influence  to  make  a 
young  woman  who  had  just  been  seduced  retrace  her  steps 
while  it  was  not  j-et  altogether  impossible  to  hide  her 
shame  from  the  world,  and  this  even  though  she  gave  him 
encouragement  to  complete  her  ruin;  and  his  hand  would 
wither  before  he  could  in  any  way  be  a  party  to  her  further 
damage. 

Poverty  is  probably  the  most  fruitful  of  all  causes  which 
lead  to  the  downfall  of  girls. 

Unquestionably  most  girls  who  have  themselves  alone 
to  support  could  find  some  kind  of  employment  which 
would  maintain  them  if  they  were  willing  to  work  hard; 
but  when  ignorance,  poverty  and  vanity  combine  forces, 
and  a  life  is  opened  up  to  them  which  seems  to  offer  rich 
rewards  and  absolutely  no  work,  then  they  are  indeed  in 
danger. 

The  starvation  wages  paid  to  young  women  in  stores, 
factories,  restaurants,  etc.,  compel  many  of  them  to  earn 
money  elsewhere ;  and  when  they  are  thrown  upon  their 
own  resources,  unequipped  by  any  training  to  earn  their 
living,  the  temptation  is  very  strong  to  barter  away  their 
virtue  for  what  may  seem  to  them  adequate  money  rewards.* 

'  Sanger,  "History  of  Prostitution,"  p.  496. 

2  "In  order  to  show  the  relation  between  unpaid  and  excessive 
labor  and  prostitution,  we  will  instance  a  few  cases. 

"One  young  woman  said  she  made  moleskin  pantaloons  (a  very 
strong,  stiff  fabric)  at  the  rate  of  15  cents  per  pair.  She  could 
manage  twelve  pairs  per  week  when  there  was  full  employment ; 
sometimes  she  could  not  get  work.  She  worked  from  six  in  the 
morning  until  ten  at  night.  With  full  work  she  could  make  $3 
a  week,  out  of  which  she  had  to  expend  38  cents  for  thread  and  can- 
dle. On  an  average,  in  consequence  of  short  work,  she  could  not 
make  more  than  75  cents  a  week.  Her  father  was  dead,  and  she  had 
to  support  her  mother,  who  was  sixty  j'ears  of  age.     This  girl  en- 


184  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

No  girl  who  has  any  womanly  delicacy  or  attractiveness 
would  or  does  cast  herself  away  by  deliberately  prostitut- 
ing herself,  unless  under  the  duress  of  necessity ;  but  in- 
numerable men  are  ever  ready  to  seduce  her  and  drain  her 
very  life's  blood,  thinking  to  excuse  themselves  by  the 
money  they  pay. 

Prostitution  is  very  largely  the  effect  of  the  unfortunate 
circumstances  of  these  poor  girls,  and  the  material  for 
brothels  is  largely  recruited  from  the  stores,  the  factories 
and  the  "  sweat-shoi:)S, "  where  they  must  work  many  and 
weary  hours  for  cruelh-  small  pay. 

Factor}^  Inspector  O'Lear^^  of  New  York  State,  in  urg- 
ing the  abolition  of  the  sweating  system,  says  in  his 
Eleventh  Annual  Eeport  (1895) : 

"  With  knee-pants  bringing  but  from  50  to  75  cents  per 
dozen,  vests  from  $1  to  $3  per  dozen,  trousers  from  12^  to 
75  cents  per  pair,  and  coats  from  32  cents  to  $1.50  each, 
with  a  percentage  oft'  these  prices  for  the  '  boss  sweaters  ' 
and  another  reduction  oft'  for  cost  of  carting,  which  the 
workman  is  obliged  to  pay,  we  cannot  expect  to  find  any- 
thing but  destitution,  suffering,  intellectual  and  moral  de- 
l^ression,  existing  among  the  unfortunate  victims  of  this 
pernicious  system." 

The  temptation  which  men  offer  to  these  poor  distressed 

dured  her  mode  of  existence  for  three  years,  till  at  length  she  agreed 
to  live  with  a  young  man.  When  she  made  this  statement  she  was 
within  three  months  of  her  confinement.  She  felt  the  disgrace  of  her 
condition,  to  relieve  her  from  which  she  said  she  prayed  for  death, 
and  would  not  have  gone  wrong  if  she  could  have  helped  it. 

"Such  a  case  as  this  scarcely  comes  within  the  term  prostitution, 
but  she  stated  that  many  girls  at  the  shop  advised  prostitution  as 
a  resource,  and  that  others  should  do  as  they  did,  as  by  that  means 
they  had  procured  plenty  to  eat  and  clothes  to  wear.  She  gave  it  as 
her  opinion  that  none  of  the  thousands  of  girls  who  work  at  the  same 
business  earn  a  livelihood  by  their  needle,  but  that  all  must  and 
do  prostitute  themselves  to  eke  out  a  subsistence.^'' — Sanger,  loc.  cit., 
p.  328. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.    185 

and  destitute  girls  is  but  too  successful  a  menace  to  their 
rectitude,  and  reform  is  hardly  to  be  looked  for  until  the 
social  conditions  which  make  the  fall  so  easy  are  righted 
by  legislation  and  public  sentiment. 

Men  are  all  agreed  upon  the  fact  that  women  are  not  well 
equipped  by  nature  to  engage  in  the  struggle  of  life,  and  that 
it  is  a  shame  for  any  woman  to  be  obliged  to  earn  her  own 
living ;  but  many  a  poor  girl  is  compelled  to  leave  the  shel- 
ter of  her  home  in  order  to  support  herself  and  perhaps  her 
dependent  relatives. 

It  seems  hardly  necessary  to  accentuate  the  fact  that 
great-hearted  men  are  speciallj^  gallant  to  these  unfortu- 
nates ;  but  they  are  offset  by  the  lustful  beasts  of  prey  who 
assail  the  young  women  as  thej^  quietly  walk  home  from 
their  work  at  night,  and  spread  before  them  all  sorts  of 
allurements  to  lead  at  first  a  gay,  and  then  a  fast  life. 
Familiarity  and  disrespect  are  shown  to  almost  every  at- 
tractive woman  who  has  no  guardian;  and  though  many 
of  them  resent  it,  quite  a  large  number  can  be  led  astray 
if  they  are  in  straitened  circumstances  and  skilfully  ap- 
proached. 

Men  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  married  and  single,  who 
are  received  and  recognized  in  the  best  social  and  business 
circles,  have  money  in  abundance  with  which  to  x^urchase 
the  degradation  of  these  young  women  whose  "  virtue  and 
purity  are  the  most  marketable  elements  in  their  lives." 

The  defencelessness  of  their  position  and  the  sad  cir- 
cumstance that  they  are  compelled  by  the  hardest  kind  of 
work  to  eke  out  a  bare  subsistence  should  incline  the 
hearts  of  men  to  help  and  protect  them ;  and  if  they  have 
fallen  on  account  of  the  outrageous  villainy  of  others,  they 
should  be  judged  very  tenderly,  while  no  punishment  could 
be  severe  enough  for  the  seducers. 

Some  Girls  are  Almost  Born  into  Tliis  Pi^ofession,  many  of 
them  being  illegitimate,  basely  born  children,  or  the  off- 
spring of  seusual  parents,  who  perhaps  begot  them  while 


186  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

4 

drunk.  But,  as  a  rule,  if  a  prostitute  has  a  girl  as  lier  il- 
legitimate child,  she  would  rather  strangle  it  than  see  it 
lapse  from  virtue.  However  much  parents  may  desire  to 
see  their  children  grow  up  to  a  better  life,  this  can  never 
be  realized  as  long  as  the  force  of  an  evil  example  is  oper- 
ating; and  unless  the  mother,  particularh',  be  virtuous, 
there  is  little  hope  that  the  children  will  grow  up  to  be 
sweet  and  pure. 

But  though  the  mighty  love  of  even  a  fallen  woman  for 
her  child  would  impel  her  to  shield  it  from  harm,  excep- 
tions are  yet  as  common  as  the  inconsistencies  of  human 
beings — for  sometimes  a  mother  will  make  a  handsome  liv- 
ing by  selling  her  daughter's  favors. 

Absence  of  Rdujious  Training  and  Belief  leads  straight  to 
a  life  of  unchastity  in  a  large  number  of  instances.  Re- 
ligion is  the  strongest  incentive  to  purity,  and,  as  a  rule, 
when  it  is  put  aside,  morality  expires. 

Most  prostitutes,  however,  have  been  brought  up  in  some 
religious  belief,  and  some  are  actually  churchgoers,  though 
few  make  any  attempt  to  screen  themselves  under  the  gospel 
colors. 

It  cannot  be  said  of  this  class  of  women  that  they  are 
hypocrites;  that  they  make  any  attempt  to  appear  to  be 
wearing  "the  livery  of  the  court  of  heaven  to  serve  the 
devil  in";  or  that  they  pretend  to  be  anything  but  what 
they  are. 

The  beaut}'  of  the  Christian  religion,  when  presented  in 
the  way  intended  bj-  its  Founder,  makes  a  deep  impression 
on  their  hearts;  but  what  would  the  apostles  say  if  they 
were  to  see  that  hardly  a  pew  in  any  church  invites  or  wel- 
comes or  tolerates  them,  while  fallen  men —  hypocrites  that 
they  are — bow  the  knee  at  the  communion-table  before  the 
world ! 

"But  even  with  their  neglect  of  the  outward  require- 
ments of  faith,  and  while  in  the  actual  commission  of  known 
and  acknowledged  sin,  they  still  preserve  many  traits  which 


PROSTITUTION  A]^D  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  l87 

are  niucli  to  tlieir  credit.  They  possess  one  of  the  chief 
virtues  belonging  to  the  female  character,  which  never 
seems  to  become  extinct  or  materially  impaired ;  namely, 
kindness  to  each  other  when  sick  or  destitute,  and  indeed 
to  all  who  are  in  suffering  or  distress.  This  has  attracted 
the  attention,  and  called  forth  the  admiration,  of  every  one 
who  has  been  thrown  into  contact  with  them."  ' 

Overcroivded  Dwellings  are  a  prolific  source  of  contam- 
ination. 

Among  the  very  poor  the  members  of  the  famil}',  and 
sometimes  several  families,  are  in  many  instances  forced 
to  litter  down  like  pigs  in  their  sleeping  apartments,  to 
perform  their  ablutions  and  the  acts  of  nature  in  each 
other's  sight,  and  to  listen  to  little  else  but  depravity ;  so 
that  in  such  instances  the  young  of  both  sexes  become  pre- 
cocious in  their  knowledge  of  licentiousness  without  ap- 
preciating the  natural  barriers  ]:)etween  the  sexes.  Sur- 
rounded by  the  fumes  of  alcohol,  hearing  obscenity  and 
cursing,  seeing  the  indecent  l)ehavior  of  their  elders,  and 
being  born  into  such  an  environment,  there  can  be  no  won- 
der that  many  of  these  unfortunate  children  should  follow 
the  examples  which  are  set  them,  and  never  rise  out  of  the 
filth  of  their  vicious  surroundings. 

While  avaricious  landlords  and  apathetic  municipalities 
permit  such  travesties  of  decency,  there  can  be  no  hope 
for  the  growth  of  these  children  into  anything  but  the 
refuse  of  society — natural  criminals  and  vagabonds. 

The  Ahandonment  of  Wives,  and  False  31arriacjes,  account 
for  the  fall  of  a  considerable  number  of  women. 

There  are  some  men  base  enough  to  gain  the  love  of  un- 
suspecting Avomen,  and  go  through  the  ceremony  of  mar- 
riage, while  having  wives  and  children  elsewhere.  As  soon 
as  pregnancy  occurs,  these  poor  women  are  abandoned, 
and,  overcome  with  shame,  are  readily  persuaded  to  prosti- 
tute themselves. 

'  Sanger,  loc.  cit.,  p.  547. 


188  HEREDITY   AXD   MORALS. 

The  Dreadful  Traffic  in,  Girls. — Oue  of  the  consequences 
of  tlie  selfish  and  base  demands  of  men  for  the  gratification 
of  their  carnal  desires  is  the  unceasing  traflic  in  unpro- 
tected girlhood — for  where  there  is  a  demand  there  will 
always  be  a  supply. 

Thus  the  fresh  young  girls  have  commodities  of  ex- 
changeable value,  which,  if  offered  for  sale  in  the  markets, 
will  bring  rich  prices ;  and  as  long  as  this  demand  remains, 
with  money  to  back  it,  the  market  will  in  some  way  be  sup- 
plied. 

In  order  to  satisfy  this  monstrous  exaction  of  lustful 
men,  male  and  female  procurers  j^ercolate  the  lower  strata 
of  society,  incessantly  recruiting  tlie  youngest  and  most  at- 
tractive girls  they  can  find  for  the  bawdy-houses. 

In  Continental  Eurojoe  there  are  organized  agencies,  with 
branches  in  remote  sections,  whose  business  it  is  to  keep 
and  supply  attractive  women  for  immoral  purposes;  and 
the  same  nefarious  traffic  is  flourishing  in  our  own  land. 

The  (question  for  each  individual  man  is,  i)lainly,  whether 
he  shall  be  a  i:)arty  to  anything  which  thrives  on  the 
smothering  out  of  the  lives  and  the  decency  of  heli)less  and 
agonized  young  women. 

The  thoughtless  men  who  patronize  brothels  are  mostly 
of  the  opinion  that  these  women  are  good  for  nothing  else, 
and  that  they  are  permanent  fixtures  there — little  realizing 
that  a  large  proportion  of  them  die  every  year,  that  most 
of  them  sink  lower  and  lower  with  horrible  rapidity,  and 
that  their  places  must  be  filled,  not  by  worthless  and  ma- 
ture women,  but  by  the  youngest,  freshest,  and  most  attrac- 
tive girls  it  is  j)ossible  to  secure. 

Thus  a  traffic  in  girls  is  absolutely  essential  to  supply  the 
demand — and  this  must  be  somewhat  further  elucidated. 
It  is  a  fact,  accepted  by  those  who  are  well  qualified  to 
know,  that  about  one-fourth  of  the  prostitutes  drop  out 
every  year,  and  Sanger  says :'   "  The  average  duration  of 

'  Loc.  cit.,  p.  455. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  189 

life  among  tliese  women  does  not  exceed  four  3- ears  from 
tlie  beginning  of  tlieir  career" ;  while  some  European  au- 
thorities place  the  duration  of  life  at  five  years.' 

Exceptionally,  however,  some  of  them  remain  in  seem- 
ingly fair  physical  condition  for  very  much  longer  periods 
of  time;  but  on  an  a\'erage  one-fourth  disappear  every 
year.  So,  of  course,  there  must  be  an  active  recruiting 
service  going  on,  incomparably  more  exacting  than  that 
required  bj'  the  military  forces,  taking  no  account  of  the 
innumerable  servants,  shopgirls,  chorus-girls,  actresses, 
waitresses  and  others,  who  are  led  to  practise  clandestine 
prostitution.  Furthermore,  it  is  estimated,  as  nearly  as 
can  be  approximated,  that  for  every  prostitute  there  are 
five  impure  men  to  support  her ;  and  these  "  kistiug  beasts 
of  prey"  not  only  do  not  want  them  to  reform,  but  contin- 
ually demand  new  and  fresh  supplies. 

Therefore,  since  the  two  factors  of  supply  and  demand 
are  intimately  correlated  as  an  axiom  of  political  economy, 
if  the  men  show  a  desire  to  purchase,  then  the  commodities 
will  certainly  be  supi)lied.  Sureh'  all  the  oceans  cannot 
wash  away  the  stains  from  those  who  shed  the  costly  blood 
of  these  young  girls  whom  they  hold  so  cheap ! 

There  are  men  and  women  abroad,  called  respectively 

procurers  and  procuresses,  or  pimps,  whose  sole  livelihood 

consists  in  inveigling  young  girls  into  this  life  by  force,  or 

'  Of  course  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  obtain  reliable  statistical  in- 
formation, and  these  calculations  must  not  be  accepted  as  anything 
but  the  mere  opinions  of  trustworthy  men  who  are  in  a  position  to  ob- 
serve. The  statistics  collected  by  Woods  Hutchinson  (Medical  News, 
vol.  Ixx. ,  No.  26,  p.  801) ,  supported  by  the  testimony  of  Du  Chatelet 
of  Paris,  would  place  their  average  life  at  9.5  years  after  entering 
upon  tliis  career  ;  and  other  statistics  from  the  police  of  London  and 
Paris  demonstrate  that  death  does  not  account  for  the  greater  part  of 
those  who  disappear.  It  is  certain  that  where  the  system  of  police 
control  is  not  in  force,  a  very  large  number  of  these  women  become 
tired  of  the  hardships  and  ignominy  of  their  lives,  receiving  less 
pay  as  they  get  older  and  more  familiarized  with  their  work,  and 
that,  when  possible,  they  seek  employment  in  a  better  life. 


190  Heredity  and  morals. 

fraud,  or  other  means.  "  Oli,  surely  this  is  a  mistake !" 
one  cries  out  in  his  heart  of  hearts ;  but  no — the  brothel 
needs  such  monsters,  who  think  nothing  of  entrapping  an 
innocent  girl,  of  turning  her  imprudent  steps  along  a  tor- 
turing jjath  to  an  outcast's  life  and  a  shameful  grave,  and 
who  for  money  lead  her  to  suspect  no  evil  and  enshroud 
her  with  the  filthy  pall  of  the  courtezan.  The  price  of 
blood  is  paid  by  the  defiled  men  who  patronize  brothels. 

The  first  thing  for  a  procurer  or  procuress  to  do  is  to  get 
acquainted  with  girls  who  have  lost  their  natural  protectors, 
or  who  are  away  from  home  in  a  large  city  and  entirely 
dependent  upon  themselves.  For  some  kinds  of  work  the 
procuress  succeeds  better,  and  for  others  the  procurer  is 
better  fitted. 

At  "  intelligence  ofiices"  for  servants,  at  lodging-houses, 
and  even  at  churches,  Sunday-schools  and  hospitals,  there 
are  innumerable  opportunities  to  meet  girls  who  are  out  of 
employment,  or  who  are  dissatisfied  with  their  conditions 
of  life.  Many  are  led  into  traps  by  seemingly  proper  and 
enticing  advertisements  which  continually  appear  in  the 
columns  of  the  newspapers.  When  the  unsuspecting  young 
women  meet  the  advertisers,  they  are  delighted  with  their 
pleasing  manners  and  the  promise  of  large  wages  and  easy 
work.  Thus  very  often  a  country  lass  does  not  know  that 
she  is  a  servant  in  a  brothel  until  many  days  have  elapsed ; 
and  a  little  drugged  wine,  the  removal  of  her  clothing  so 
that  she  cannot  escape,  and  tact  on  the  part  of  the  mistress 
of  the  house,  soon  accomplish  her  ruin.  Lurking  about 
the  incoming  trains  are  frequently  to  be  seen  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  benevolent  aspect  who  are  eager  to  assist  any 
innocent-looking  girl  in  finding  employment  or  a  nice  lodg- 
ing-house. Even  the  hospitals  are  visited  and  friendships 
made  with  destitute  girls,  by  gifts  of  flowers  and  other 
kindnesses,  so  that  when  the  deluded  victims  leave  the 
ward  they  confidingly  go  with  the  sanctimonious  procuress 
to  their  unsuspected  doom. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  191 

Cabmen  sometimes  are  known  to  drive  girls  to  wrong 
addresses  and  act  as  agents  for  the  mistresses  of  brotliels, 
receiving  money  rewards,  of  course,  if  tlie  ruse  is  successful. 

In  every  possible  guise  of  respectability  these  procurers 
and  procuresses  are  going  about  seeking  for  attractive  and 
juvenile  women.  They  must  have  youth  in  their  business, 
for  men  demand  it.  Since  death  flows  with  a  rapid  current 
through  the  streets  of  shame,  and  youth  and  beauty  soon 
fade,  others  must  be  found  to  fill  up  the  ranks  for  this 
lucrative  business.  Thus  the  procession  goes  on  and  on 
from  the  highest  grade  of  bawdy-house  down,  down,  down 
to  the  basest  hovels,  and  to  the  pauj^er's  grave.  Men  force 
this  upon  womankind ! 

In  order  to  make  their  houses  luxurious,  the  brothel- 
keepers  must  spend  large  sums  of  monej',  and  must  of 
course  retain  the  most  innocent  and  beautiful  young  girls 
to  insure  popularity  with  their  customers.  If  a  "  madame" 
is  adroit  she  gets  her  live-stock  largely  into  her  debt,  or, 
as  the  girls  express  it,  "  their  trunks  are  nailed  to  the  floor." 
Often  the  very  clothes  on  the  girls'  backs,  and  the  orna- 
ments they  wear,  are  owned  by  the  proprietress,  whose 
highest  interest  it  is  to  have  them  appear  luxurious.  When 
they  cease  to  be  a  sufficient  source  of  revenue  they  are 
kicked  out  with  little  grace. 

"  People  in  Euroj)e  speak  with  indignation  of  the  traffic 
in  negroes.  It  would  be  just  as  well  if  they  would  open 
their  eyes  to  what  is  going  on  much  nearer  throughout  the 
whole  of  Euroi)e,  especially  in  Germany  and  Austria, 
where  the  exportation  of  white  slaves  is  carried  on  on  a 
large  scale.  A  terrible  picture  is  presented  to  us  of  the 
enforced  movement  to  and  fro  ujjon  the  face  of  the  earth  of 
these  youthful  victims  of  human  cruel t}'.  Numbers  are 
embarked  at  Hamburg,  whose  destination  is  South 
America,  Bahia,  and  Rio  de  Janeiro.  The  greater  number 
are  probably  engaged  for  Montevideo  and  Buenos  Ayres; 
others  are  sent  by  the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  Valparaiso. 


192  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

Otlier  cargoes  are  sent  to  North  America,  some  being  for- 
warded through  England,  others  direct.  The  competition 
which  the  traders  meet  with  when  they  land  sometimes 
constrains  them  to  go  farther  ahead ;  they  are  found,  there- 
fore, descending  the  Mississippi  with  their  cargoes  to  New 
Orleans  and  Texas.     Others  are  taken  on  to  California. 

"  In  the  market  of  California  they  are  sorted,  and  thence 
taken  to  provision  the  different  localities  on  the  coast  as 
far  as  Panama.  Others  are  sent  from  the  New  Orleans 
market  to  Cuba,  the  Antilles,  and  Mexico.  Others  are 
taken  from  Bohemia,  Germany,  and  Switzerland  across  the 
Alps  to  Italy,  and  thence  farther  south  to  Alexandria  and 
Suez,  and  eastward  to  Bombay,  Calcutta,  Singapore,  Hong 
Kong,  and  Shanghai.  The  Russian  official  houses  of  vice 
draw  their  slaves  in  a  great  measure  from  Eastern  Prussia, 
Pomerania,  and  Poland.  The  most  important  Russian 
station  is  Riga ;  it  is  there  that  the  traders  of  St.  Peters- 
burg and  Moscow  sort  and  get  read}^  their  cargoes  for 
Nijni-Novgorod,  aud  from  this  latter  place  cargoes  are  sent 
on  to  the  more  distant  towns  of  Siberia,  At  Tschita  a 
young  German  was  found  who  had  been  sold  and  resold  in 
this  manner." ' 

The  outcast  class  is  recruited  from  women  under  the  age 
of  twenty-one;  and  one  rescue-worker  has  said,  "The  last 
'strange  woman  '  I  had  to  deal  with  was  aged  seven  years." 
She  could  be  used  for  the  sexual  perverts. 

The  children  of  the  poor  are  forced  to  go  out  earh^  in 
life  to  work,  and  in  their  ignorance  and  immaturity — the 
very  qualities  that  are  preyed  upon  to  their  hurt — they  are 
no  match  for  the  scheming  destroy er.  Girlhood,  not  ma- 
ture womanhood,  is  devoted  to  this  industry-,  and,  as  em- 
ployees, they  are  too  often  subject  to  the  control  of  men 
who  prove  anything  but  their  friends  and  protectors. 

If  a  woman  has  fallen  from  virtue  there  are  a  score  of 

'  Letter  of  Mrs.  Josephine  E.  Butler  to  the  International  Council  of 
Women  at  Washington. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  193 

influences  wliicli  prevent  lier  rising  again.  Until  lately, 
society  has  not  been  represented  by  any  powerful  organi- 
zations aiming  to  reform  and  lift  up  the  wounded  women; 
but  Christian  heroes  and  heroines — none  other — have  of 
late  actively  begun  the  life-saving  work,  and  have  shown 
a  chivalrj'  only  possible  to  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
which  far  surpasses  the  romantic  exploits  of  paper 
heroes. 

There  is  a  something  about  the  visage  and  the  gait  of  a 
woman  who  has  been  degraded  which  hints  at  her  shame, 
so  that  her  countenance  is  against  her,  her  own  sex  is 
against  her,  and  men  are  against  her.  It  is  because  she 
is  an  outcast. 

Among  the  jirostitutes  of  Japan,  and  in  most  of  the 
cities  of  Southern  Europe,  the  woinen  do  not  so  markedly 
show  forth  this  characteristic  expression  of  countenance, 
because  they  have  a  higher  standing  in  the  social  scale,  and 
not  infrequently  marrj-.  Hope,  and  a  certain  favorable 
recognition  of  their  services,  keep  alive  in  them  some  of 
the  attributes  of  women.  The  Japanese  men  are  said  to 
be  not  at  all  averse  to  marrying  a  woman  after  she  has  lived 
for  a  year  or  so  in  a  tea-house  {tskaja)  as  a  prostitute;  but 
then  the  women  in  that  country  seem  to  be  of  no  account 
except  as  mere  chattels,  and  their  standing  cannot  be 
greatly  lowered,  for  they  have  little.' 

'  "In  Japan,  houses  of  prostitution  are  a  national  institution  ;  the 
law  regulates  the  costume  of  the  women  who  inhabit  them,  and  the 
duration  of  their  stay.  On  this  point  Europe  has  little  to  envy  Japan. 
But  what  is  special  to  Japan  is  that  the  tikakie,  the  inmates  of  these 
houses,  are  placed  there  by  their  parents  themselves,  and  for  a  price 
tliat  is  debated  beforehand.  These  inmates  of  the  tea-houses  gener- 
ally enter  them  from  the  age  of  fourteen  or  fifteen  years,  to  live 
there  till  they  are  twenty-five  years  old.  They  are  taught  to  dance, 
to  sing,  to  play  the  guitar,  and  to  write  letters.  They  are  lodged  in 
handsome  apartments,  where  men  go  to  see  them  openly  and  without 
any  mystery. 

"  They  are  in  no  wav  dishonored  by  their  trade  ;  manv  of  them  marry 

13 


194  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

But  the  Anglo-Saxon  liarlot  can  rarely  hide  the  trade- 
mark of  her  calling,  which  is  stamped  upon  her  face  and 
gait  and  deportment. 

Employment  is  not  readily  secured  by  such  women, 
though  most  of  them  could  undoubtedly^  abandon  their 
lives  of  shame  if  they  were  treated  with  ordinary  consid- 
eration. Candor  compels  us  to  say,  however,  that  a  large 
number  of  these  women  are  influenced  by  their  vanity  and 
love  of  fine  apparel  to  continue  in  infamous  idleness  rather 
than  accept  menial  positions  with  really  hard  work  and 
small  pay. 

An  ignorant  i)rostitute,  unfit  for  anything  but  labor,  can 
dress  expensively  and  surround  herself  with  comforts  such 
as  ladies  have,  all  without  effort  or  any  equipment  of  edu- 
cation. Thus  a  large  number  of  harlots  are  unquestionably 
so  from  choice,  and  prefer  a  continuance  of  that  life  to  hard 
work  and  small  pa^-.  Such  are  ob\'iousl3'  "lost  women" 
— after  being  started  on  the  downward  path  they  elect  to 
continue  in  this  degraded  calling.  However,  scores  of 
women  who  might  be  considered  "lost"  are  readily  re- 
stored to  decency  if  they  come  under  the  influence  of 
friendly  help. 

Mam^  of  these  women,  after  age  has  rapidly  crept  on  and 
their  charms  have  faded,  become  keepers  of  brothels  them- 
selves, or  set  up  that  obnoxious  modern  innovation  so 
widely  advertised  in  the  newspapers  as  "  Massage  Parlors," 
which  are  nothing  but  another  variety  of  bawdy-houses 
adapted  to  suit  another  kind  of  sexual  perverts. 

Not  a  few  women  are  kept  mistresses  of  rich  men  and 
illicitlj^  occupy  the  j^laces  of  wives,  though  entailing  greater 
expense  than  would  suflice  to  keep  a  respectable  family  in 
comfort.  One  cannot  help  wondering  what  a  man  can 
think  of  himself  for  keeping  down  a  human  being  in  such 

very  well  afterward  ;  it  even  happens  that  respectable  citizens  go  to 
seek  an  agreeable  wife  in  these  houses  of  pleasure. "— Letourneau, 
"The  Evolution  of  Marriage,"  p.  158. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  195 

infamy  of  slavery  and  in  such  cruelly  liopeless  and  relent- 
less disgrace,  when  liis  money  and  his  so-called  "love" 
might  so  much  better  be  expended  in  the  achievement  of 
her  reformation.  With  a  little  assistance  and  s^'mpathy 
many  an  erring  woman  could  unquestionably  be  saved ;  and 
the  contrast  between  x)ushing  a  tender,  weakly-,  and  easily 
persuaded  girl  down  further  and  further  in  the  mire,  and 
of  lifting  her  up  by  the  manly  strength  of  real  love,  is  as 
great  as  what  we  mean  by  the  difference  between  Heaven 
and  Hell.  Some  of  them  are  perhaps  too  deeply  wounded 
by  curses,  disease,  drink  and  desj^air  to  be  saved ;  but  an 
upright  man  would  not  remain  in  the  same  class  with  those 
who  contribute  to  their  ruin,  but  rather  make  the  attempt 
to  discountenance  such  traffic  and  to  save  them. 

These  prostitutes  are  indeed  outcasts — the  law  in  the 
State  of  Missouri  even  going  so  far  as  to  say  that  their 
testimony  cannot  be  accepted,  while  further  saying  that 
"  such  character  in  a  man  does  not  in  like  manner  affect 
his  character  for  veracitj." 

In  the  ante-helluia  days  slaves  were  cared  for  by  their 
masters  when  they  became  old,  and  the  relationshij)  be- 
tween master  and  servant  was  often  a  tender  one.  How  is 
it  with  a  man's  mistress — his  "  white  slave"  ?  She  becomes 
of  less  and  less  value  with  length  of  service  and  experience, 
and  the  man's  pseudo-love  rapidly  passes  away  when  she 
is  no  longer  pleasing;  and  if  conception  occur,  both  she 
and  the  child  are  usually  abandoned.  His  money  will  buy 
younger  women  in  the  comparative  bloom  of  innocence ;  and 
the  worn-out  mistress,  like  the  prostitute  of  the  bawdy- 
house,  becomes  a  candidate  for  the  jail,  the  hospital,  the 
poorhouse  and  the  potter's  field.  All  the  burden  and  dis- 
grace are  put  on  the  woman  sinner,  the  attempt  being  made 
to  make  everything  safe  and  attractive  for  the  male ;  but  the 
idea  is  false  that  he  can  escape  an  utter  moral  degradation, 
if  not  physical  as  well. 

All  Nature,   all  reason,   all   pity  and  all  love  cry  out 


196  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

against  the  base  doctrine  tliat  a  host  of  young  women  must 
be  drawn  into  the  vortex  to  appease  tlie  appetites  of  men. 

"  Mr.  Crittenton  estimates  tliat  there  are  two  hundred 
and  thirty -two  thousand  prostitutes  in  our  country  to-day. 
Their  average  life  is  five  3' ears.  Every  five  years,  then, 
two  hundred  thousand  x)ure  girls  must  be  dishonored  and 
spoiled  to  sujiph^  the  demand  of  lust !  Ancient  and  heathen 
Athens  used  to  go  into  mourning  because,  every  nine  years, 
seven  youths  and  seven  maidens  had  to  be  furnished  for 
the  devouring  Minotaur  of  Crete.  How  ought  we,  then, 
as  a  nation  to  prostrate  ourselves  before  God  in  seeking 
deliverance  from  this  monstrous  evil  that  every  year  de- 
vours iortj  thousand  of  our  pure  maidens  and  pollutes  two 
hundred  thousand  of  our  pure  youths  !"  ' 

Besides  those  who  earn  their  living  solely  bj^  prostitu- 
tion, there  are  an  enormous  number  who  must  be  habitually 
unchaste  clandestinely  in  order  to  sui)i)ort  themselves. 

A  Parisian  official,  Lecour,  in  his  report  upon  prostitu- 
tion, advocated  the  supervision  by  the  police  of  large  num- 
bers of  the  single  and  unin-otected  working-girls  who  were 
known  to  be  earning  an  amount  insufiicieut  to  live  uj^on. 
He  claimed  that  they  should  be  regarded  as  suspicious 
characters,  and  treated  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as  har- 
lots. Much  the  same  condition  exists  in  all  our  large  cities ; 
and  many  hard-working  girls,  victims  of  their  employers' 
greed,  are  thus  compelled  to  i:)ractise  clandestine  prostitu- 
tion. 

The  general  public  does  not  at  all  appreciate  the  number 
of  women  who  have  fallen,  because  thej'  are  submerged  and 
out  of  the  view  of  respectable  society.  In  New  York  ciij, 
there  are  estimated  to  be  from  30,000  to  40,000  prostitutes; 
and  the  statement  is  made  by  conservative  authorities  that 
out  of  every  fifty -five  inhabitants,  including  men,  women 
and  children,  one  is  a  i:)rostitute. 

In  the  space  at  our  command  we  cannot  enter  ink)  a 
■  Rev.  Frank  M.  Goodchild,  in  The  Arena,  March,  1896. 


PKOSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  197 

statistical  analysis  of  tlie  yearly  cost  of  prostitution,  but 
the  reader  will  hardly  be  surprised  at  the  statement  that  it 
is  enormous.  In  considering  the  sum  of  money  which  is 
expended  on  prostitution  it  is  fair  to  take  account  of  the 
fees  which  are  paid  to  the  prostitutes,  the  usual  wines  and 
liquors  for  which  exorbitant  prices  are  charged,  the  revelry 
in  dance-halls  and  saloons  which  are  imtronized  by  prosti- 
tutes, the  medical  expenses  at  hospitals  and  dispensaries, 
the  care  of  those  who  become  pauperized,  the  cost  of  police 
supervision,  the  rental  of  the  houses,  etc.,  etc. 

Sixty-five  millions  of  dollars  a  3' ear  paid  out  for  prosti- 
tution in  New  York  citj'  at  the  present  time,  without  ac- 
counting for  the  hospital  or  police  expenses,  or  the  rentals, 
would  be  a  most  conservative  estimate,  basing  this  figure 
on  the  factors  laid  down  by  Sanger  in  1858, '  and  taking  no 
account  of  the  greater  expenditure  of  money  at  the  close  of 
this  century.  Fully  five  times  as  many  men  as  women  are 
degraded  b}^  impurity,  and  they  supply  the  funds  for  this 
business.  But  the  enormous  tribute  of  money  which  men 
pay  to  vice  is  as  nothing  in  comparison  to  the  racial  degra- 
dation and  damnation. 

Mirth  and  revelry  may  seem  to  be  inseparably  connected 
with  prostitution,  and  a  casual  observer  would  suj^i^ose 
that  the  pleasure  of  that  kind  of  life  predominated  over  the 
pain;  but  the  mirth  is  a  sham — for  none  care  for  a  discon- 
solate and  tearful  harlot. 

Conscious  that  their  condition  in  every  respect  is  wholly 
unsatisfactory,  that  the  terms  of  endearment  with  which 
they  are  addressed  mean  nothing  but  a  stimulus  to  a  base 
seutimentalism,  and  that  their  path  leads  away  from  mar- 
riage to  premature  aging,  disease  and  death,  they  cannot 
for  a  moment  be  happy. 

"  And  amid  all  this  array  of  luxurious  homes,  of  splendid 
dresses,  of  comparative  affluence,  the  question  arises.  Are 
they  happy?  A  moment's  consideration  will  prompt  the 
'  "History  of  Prostitution,"  pp.  600  et  seq.,  quod  vide. 


198  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

answer  that  tliej'  cannot  be.  Continued  indulgence  in 
their  course  of  life  tends  to  obliterate  the  sense  of  degra- 
dation, and  makes  their  career  almost  second  nature,  but 
even  the  most  confirmed  must  at  times  reflect.  The  mem- 
ory of  what  the}'  have  been,  the  thought  of  what  they  are, 
the  dread  of  what  thej'  must  be,  haunt  their  minds ;  con- 
science will  make  itself  heard.  Many  a  poor  girl  dressed 
in  silks  or  satins,  gleaming  with  jewelry,  and  receiving 
with  a  gay  smile  the  lavish  compliments  of  her  'friend,' 
is  mentally  racked  with  a  keen  appreciation  of  her  true 
position.  She  knows  that  the  world  condemns  her,  and 
her  own  heart  admits  the  justice  of  the  verdict.  She 
knows  that  he  who  is  so  ostentatiously  parading  his  admi- 
ration regards  her  but  as  a  purchased  instrument  to  minis- 
ter to  his  gratification.  She  feels  that  she  is,  emphatically, 
alone  in  the  world,  and  her  merry  laugh  but  ill  conceals  a 
breaking  heart." ' 

The  number  of  prostitutes  who  commit  suicide,  led  to  it 
by  the  utter  hojielessness  of  their  condition,  is  far  beyond 
what  we  might  expect.  As  far  as  this  life  goes,  at  least, 
the  women  realize  that  they  are  utterly  ruined,  and  under 
such  circumstances  it  seems  incomprehensible  that  am'  one 
could  conceive  of  their  being  happ3\ 

Fornicators  and  prostitutes  and  the  keepers  of  brothels 
desire  nothing  so  much  as  to  be  let  alone ;  and  he  who  op- 
poses them,  by  endeavoring  to  bring  about  reforms,  re- 
ceives their  condemnation  for  calling  the  public  attention 
to  this  festering  pestilence  which  is  insidiously  ruining  so 
large  a  number  of  our  young  men  and  women. 

Impurity  thrives  on  ignorance ;  but,  as  in  medical  prac- 
tice, the  cure  can  come  only  when  we  understand  the  char- 
acter, cause,  course  and  prognosis  of  the  malady.  A 
strong  and  ardent  passion  which  exerts  such  a  venomous 
power  in  destroying  our  homes,  and  in  ruining  the  stalil 
ity  of  society  by  entailing  degradation,  illegitimacy,  abor- 

'  Sanger,  loc.  cit.,  p.  552. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  199 

tions,  and  ineradicable  disease,  surely  merits  the  profound 
consideration  of  every  right-minded  man. 

There  are  those  who  contend  that  a  consideration  of 
these  matters  is  ill-timed,  immodest,  and  productive  of  no 
good;  but  this  is  the  talk  only  of  the  advocates  of  impurity. 
Of  course  we  cannot  hope  to  reform  the  world  entirely",  any 
more  than  our  j^redecessors  have  been  able  to  eradicate 
crime  by  the  im^josition  of  formidable  punishments.  But 
we  shall  have  gained  a  great  advance  if  we  can  bring  the 
individual  and  the  public  to  see  that  social  impurity  is  un- 
necessary and  indefensible  u^Don  any  ground  whatever,  and 
when  we  can  secure  the  associated  action  of  society  for  the 
reprobation  of  those  who  wantonly  indulge  in  sin  to  the 
irreparable  damage  of  their  own  health  and  the  ombitter- 
ment  of  the  lives  of  womankind  and  posterity. 

A  careful  scientific  examination  of  the  question  shows 
that  the  physical  results  of  prostitution  are  most  deplorable 
to  both  sexes ;  for  practically  all  who  transgress  are  contam- 
inated sooner  or  later,  and  the  heritage  which  posterity 
gets  is  a  deterioration  of  infamous  proportions.  Succeed- 
ing generations  will  rise  up  as  a  veritable  "  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses" to  the  shame  of  such  progenitors. 

Those  men  who  argue  in  favor  of  jjrostitution,  and  live 
according!}',  say  that  it  has  always  existed  since  the  world 
began,  and  that  our  ancestors  surely  could  not  have  been 
entireh^  wrong.  But  witchcraft,  sorcery,  and  the  magic 
art  of  di\T[nation,  which  were  accepted  by  our  forbears,  have 
been  put  aside  as  unscientific,  while  prostitution  has  been 
retained  as  a  recognized  institution  because  it  is  pleasur- 
able. And  it  is  assured  permanencj^  to  a  certain  degree 
until  we  are  aided  by  the  unanswerable  truths  of  science  to 
control  ourselves  and  put  it  also  aside. 

But  it  is  a  terrible  and  damnable  fraud  to  contend  that 
impurity  is  in  any  way  necessary  for  any  one ;  and  it  is  the 
bounden  duty  of  each  conscientious  individual  to  under- 
stand the  matter  fully,  decide  for  himself,  and  then  throw 


200  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

his  influence  on  whichever  side  appeals  to  his  manhood 
and  his  reason. 

The  efforts  which  have  been  exerted  heretofore  have  been 
mainly  in  the  direction  of  endeavoring  to  rescue  fallen 
women;  but  laudable  as  this  undoubtedly  is,  it  is  never- 
theless ineffective.  It  is  the  men  who  must  be  appealed  to 
and  regulated — for  as  long  as  they  simply  create  a  demand 
by  their  patronage  there  will  surely  be  a  supply.  And  of 
what  avail  can  it  be  if  for  every  rescued  girl  a  fresh  one  is 
pushed  over  the  brink  to  fill  up  the  gap  caused  by  her  with- 
drawal? Evidently  then,  it  is  the  height  of  folly,  from  a 
scientific  standpoint,  to  attempt  to  improve  these  condi- 
tions while  the  active  and  primal  cause  of  the  degradation 
is  left  untouched.  The  fault  is  that  there  is  a  Double  Stand- 
ard of  morality — one  rule  for  men  and  another  for  women. 
A  portion  of  womankind  are  told  off  to  lead  chaste  lives,  and 
another  portion  to  be  abominably  profligate,  while  many 
men  reserve  the  right  to  be  as  impure  as  they  please,  at 
least  at  some  time  in  their  lives,  and  foolishly  entertain 
the  pernicious  belief  that  their  perversity  will  not  result  in 
lasting  detriment  to  their  character  and  health  and  off- 
spring.* 

If  we  maintain  the  doctrine  that  j)rostitution  is  a  neces- 
sity, then  it  is  an  error  to  rescue  any  outcast  woman,  since 
her  place  will  then  have  to  be  supplied  by  some  young  girl 
who  is  not  yet  defiled.  Like  the  leeches  in  Ceylon,  which 
sometimes  adhere  so  thickly  to  the  beasts  when  they  wade 

*  "  Under  these  circumstances,  there  has  arisen  in  society  a  figure 
which  is  certainly  the  most  mournful,  and  in  some  respects  the  most 
awful,  upon  which  the  eye  of  the  moralist  can  dwell.  That  unhappy 
being  whose  very  name  is  a  shame  to  speak  ;  who  counterfeits  wuth 
a  cold  heart  the  transports  of  affection,  and  submits  herself  as  the 
passive  instrument  of  lust ;  who  is  scorned  and  insulted  as  the  vilest 
of  her  sex,  and  doomed,  for  the  most  part,  to  disease  and  abject 
wretchedness  and  an  early  death,  appears  in  every  age  as  the  per- 
petual symbol  of  the  degradation  and  the  sinfulness  of  man. " — Lecky, 
loc.  cit.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  282. 


PROSTITUTION  AND  THE  INFLUENCES  TO  SUCH  A  LIFE.  201 

tlirougli  tlie  streams  as  to  cover  them,  tliey  should  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  where  they  are,  for  flesh  and  blood  can 
endure  no  more  dei)letion. 

The  civilization  of  the  future  is  somewhat  protected  from 
vitiation  by  the  incapacity  of  the  profligate  class  of  men 
and  women  to  procreate ;  and  the  death-rate  of  these  poor 
women  who  have  been  unfitted  for  motherhood  is  further 
augmented  by  the  excessive  use  of  alcohol. 

This  sterility  of  the  prostitutes  on  account  of  disease  is 
desirable,  since  as  a  rule  they  are  notably  ignorant  and 
degenerate,  and  if  they  prox^agated  their  kind  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  the  race  w^ould  be  materially  corrupted  by 
the  twofold  influences  of  undesirable  mothers  and  fathers. 

Thus  the  biological  law  of  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest" 
protects  our  race,  and  the  ijerpetuation  of  the  species  is 
mostly  left  to  the  healthy  men  and  women,  the  healthiest 
and  best  individuals  continually  having  the  favors  of  Na- 
ture showered  upon  them  and  their  children.  In  view  of 
these  unquestionable  scientific  facts,  no  man  can  hope  to 
retain  his  health  of  body,  nor  his  character  as  a  gentleman, 
if  he  continue  in  such  infamy  as  we  have  discussed.  Anj- 
man  who  is  governed  by  knightly  feeling  will  feel  in  regard 
to  all  women — and  especially  women  who  are  young  and  un- 
protected— that  thej^  are  somebody's  daughters  or  sisters, 
and  will  be  most  jealous  of  any  license  or  offence  offered 
to  them. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE  EEGULATION   OP  PKOSTITUTION. 

European  governments  have  for  many  decades  experi- 
mented with  the  legalizing  and  regulating  of  prostitution 
— elevating  it  to  the  dignity-  of  a  state  institution.  In  the 
lands  where  this  infamous  system  is  legalized,  the  possi- 
bility that  any  man  shall  remain  chaste  and  pure  is  hardly 
conceived  of  by  either  men  or  women ;  and  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  the  sons  of  the  family  must  have  their  mis- 
tresses. 

There  being  a  continual  demand  for  fresh  batches  of 
young  girls  to  take  the  places  of  those  who  have  been 
crowded  out  by  disease  and  death,  as  i)reviously  shown,  a 
lamentable  proportion  of  women  have  consequently  been 
degraded,  and  no  unprotected  girl  of  the  lower  classes  is 
safe  from  the  machinations  of  the  procurers  and  procuresses 
wherever  the  sj-stem  of  Regulation  is  in  force. 

In  those  countries  the  police  reports  show  an  increase  in 
the  number  of  brothels,  an  increase  in  the  number  of  regis- 
tered women,  and  an  enormous  increase  in  clandestine  pros- 
titution. Moreover,  there  has  been  an  increase  in  the 
spread  of  loathsome  diseases,  and  the  whole  system  in 
every  detail  has  proved  a  delusion  to  the  men  and  a  snare 
to  the  women.' 

»  "  There  is  probably  no  country  in  which  the  provisions  of  this 
Contagious  Disease  Act  have  been  so  thoroughly  carried  out  as  in 
Germany  ;  nevertheless,  the  commission  appointed  by  the  Society 
of  Medicine  of  Berlin,  with  Professor  Virchow  as  president,  recently 
reported,  as  the  result  of  an  investigation,  that  both  prostitution  and 
venereal  diseases  were  found  to  be  rapidly  increasing  in  Berlin.  For 
example,  the  number  of  regular  prostitutes,  recognized  as  such  by 


204  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

The  alleged  aim  aud  object  of  legal*  sanction  and  the 
state  regulation  of  vice  is,  of  course,  to  secure  the  protec- 
tion of  the  jjublic  health  and  to  shield  the  pure  women  from 
harm;  but  we  shall  presently  see  how  prejjosterous  are 
both  these  j)ropositions. 

The  chief  purpose  of  regulation  is  to  have  the  harlots 
examined  by  medical  inspectors,  once  or  twice  a  week,  in 
order  to  insure  men  a  relative  safety  from  contracting  dis- 
ease. The  advocates  of  this  i^lan  claim  that  there  are  a 
large  number  of  vicious  men  whose  appetites  must  be  ap- 
peased, aud  for  their  sake  a  proportional  number  of  girls 
must  be  set  apart  and  condemned  to  the  lowest  abyss  of 
shame.  Of  course,  men  must  frankly  acknowledge  that  all 
these  regulation  schemes  have  been  adopted  solely  in  order 
to  make  fornication  safe  for  them,  while  the  women's  inter- 

the  police,  was,  in  1886,  3,006.  The  number  had  increased  in  1891 
to4,oG4,  an  increase  of  ahnost  50  per  cent.  This  represents,  how- 
ever, but  a  small  proportion  of  the  women  actually  engaged  in  prosti- 
tution, as  16,000  women  are  annually  arrested  for  plying  their  voca- 
tion upon  the  streets  in  Berlin,  and  it  is  known  that  a  great  number 
of  women  live  lives  of  prostitution  clandestinely,  so  that  the  com- 
mittee estimate  the  total  number  of  prostitutes  in  Berlin  at  40, 000  to 
50, 000. 

"  Some  idea  of  the  number  of  persons  who  are  annually  infected  by 
venereal  disease  may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  the  committee  re- 
ported nearly  80, 000  cases  as  having  been  treated  at  two  hospitals 
alone  in  Berlin  between  1880  and  1889.  The  fact  was  also  mentioned 
by  the  committee  that  a  great  number  of  cases  were  doubtless  not 
included  in  this  category.  They  quote  the  estimate  of  Blaschko, 
that  one  in  every  nine  or  ten  of  the  male  population  of  Berlin  has 
been  infected  with  syphilis. 

"A  most  convincing  evidence  of  the  utter  inefficiencj'  of  the  in- 
spection service  in  preventing  the  spread  of  venereal  disease,  was 
shown  by  the  fact  developed  by  ihe  committee,  that  the  naked-eye 
inspection,  which  has  been  universally  relied  upon,  detects  less  than 
one  in  five  of  the  cases  of  gonorrhoea,  to  say  nothing  of  syphilis. 
By  making  a  bacteriological  examination  of  eacli  case,  the  proportion 
of  prostitutes  found  to  be  suffering  from  gonorrhoea  was  increased 
from  9  per  cent  to  50  per  cent.  "—J.  H.  Kellogg,  M.  D.,  loc.  cU.,p.  249. 


THE   REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  205 

ests  are  entirely  ignored,  since  they  are  to  be  put  into  the 
lazaretto  as  soon  as  infected — which  they  speedily  will  be 
— and  the  vacancies  caused  bj^  their  withdrawal  are  to  be 
filled  with  fresh  and  healthy  women. 

It  seems  a  powerful  argument  when  the  promulgators  of 
this  sj'stem  declare  that  it  is  their  desire  to  throw  safe- 
guards around  the  i)ure  women  of  the  community ;  but  this 
is  a  mistaken  assumption,  since  the  exact  oi3j)osite  obtains. 
It  is,  indeed,  in  those  very  countries  and  cities  where  pros- 
titution is  licensed  that  virtuous  women  and  working-girls 
cannot  walk  the  streets  without  being  accosted  and  in- 
sulted. 

The  advocates  of  this  system  would  separate  women  into 
two  classes — the  sheep  and  the  goats — saying  that  these 
must  be  absolutely  chaste,  and  those  absolutely  unchaste ; 
the  barriers  between  them  are  to  be  impenetrable,  while  the 
men  may  freelj"  consort  with  both  groups. 

Harlotry  is  admittedly  the  worst  use  to  which  a  woman 
can  be  put,  as  hanging  is  for  a  man ;  and  the  country  which 
goes  into  such  a  perfidious  business  offers  a  Paradise  to 
knaves,  but  a  Hell  to  women  and  children.  To  some  men, 
all  winds  are  contrary  which  do  not  blow  in  the  evil  direc- 
tion they  desire ;  and  such  are  continually  striving  to  intro- 
duce into  our  country-  the  customs  which  the  governments 
of  Europe  have  tried  and  found  ineffectual. 

The  wickedness  of  a  nation's  laws  reflects  the  weakness 
and  the  wickedness  of  the  lawmakers ;  and  before  the  bar 
of  Justice  and  the  Court  of  Heaven  a  plea  that  crime  must 
be  recognized  can  gain  no  remission  of  the  dire  conse- 
quences. Just  as  men  do  not  demand  nor  expect  chastity 
from  all  women,  but  only  from  a  portion  of  them,  so  the 
law,  when  it  recognizes  vice,  does  not  attemjjt  to  dispense 
equity  nor  pretend  to  expect  moralitj^ — only  partially  so. 

Certain  forms  of  wickedness — such  as  murder,  theft, 
arson,  perjury,  rape,  etc. — the  law  absolutely  discounte- 
nances and  does  not  attempt  to  trifle  with.     But  while  rec- 


206  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

ognizing  that  sexual  immorality  means  social  degradation, 
and  that  it  is  a  most  prolific  source  of  crimes  in  general,  it 
nevertheless  tolerates  and  condones  it,  and  in  many  coun- 
tries has  even  actuallj^  favored  it. 

"There  are  no  grotesques  in  Nature,"  and  shame  will 
fall  upon  that  nation  which  adopts  the  scoundrel  maxim 
that  unchastity  is  necessary  for  the  health  of  men.  The 
appetite  comes  by  eating ;  and  vice,  if  cherished  and  stim- 
ulated, will  excite  a  relish  for  indulgence  which  Nature 
never  intended,  until  the  frightful  monster  lashes  and 
stings  the  immoral  gluttons,  and  menaces  with  the  foulest 
corruptions  the  community  in  which  it  is  tolerated.  Such 
cobweb  laws  cannot  restrain  the  fixed  activities  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  when  law  is  not — at  least  to  some  extent — in 
accord  with  the  eternal  truths  which  science  has  revealed, 
then  tyrannj'  begins. 

Prostitution  is  regarded  as  the  shame  of  women;  it  is 
not — it  is  the  shame  of  men.  It  is  the  unwholesome  play 
of  men,  but  the  degradation  and  death  of  women. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  no  regulation  of  prostitu- 
tion oj^enly  recognized  by  law;  but  projjositions  are  con- 
stantly brought  before  the  legislatures  of  the  various 
States,  having  in  view  the  "  State  Regulation  and  Control 
of  Vice."  Within  the  past  few  years  strenuous  efforts  have 
been  made  to  secure  the  licensing  of  brothels  in  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Washington,  Cincinnati,  Chicago, 
Pittsburg,  San  Francisco,  and  some  other  cities;  but 
public  sentiment  has  so  far  caused  the  i)rojects  to  fail — 
with  one  exception,  the  St.  Louis  experiment  of  1870-73. 
This  St.  Louis  experiment  of  1870  was  the  one  instance  in 
our  country  in  which  regulation  was  enforced  by  law,  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  commissioners 
who  were  sent  to  Eurojie  to  study  the  methods  there  in 
vogue.  It,  however,  proved  an  utter  failure,  and  was  re- 
pealed by  the  Missouri  legislature  of  1873  in  deference  to 
the  appeals  of  the  best  citizens,  assembled  in  mass-meet- 


THE  REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  207 

ings.  During  tlie  unwliolesome  years  in  wliicli  the  license 
laws  were  in  force  tliere,  the  number  of  prostitutes  in- 
creased at  the  rate  of  twenty  per  cent  a  year,  and  vene- 
real disease  extended  in  a  corresponding  ratio,  as  shown 
by  the  records  of  the  United  States  Marine  Hospital. 

The  license  system  has  been  found  pernicious  and  has 
been  rej)ealed  in  many  municipalities  and  localities  in 
France,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany, 
Hollaud,  Sweden,  and  some  other  countries;  and  Great 
Britain  and  Norway  have  absolutely'  abolished  all  regula- 
tions. For  lis  to  take  it  up  would  be  a  step  downward. 
And  yet  the  reader  has  probably  heard  intelligent  men — 
lawyers,  doctors,  business  men,  and  even  occasionally  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel — assert  strongly  that  the  i)olice 
should  be  given  control  to  license  and  regulate  brothels  for 
the  safety  of  the  community  and  the  prevention  of  disease. 

To  every  important  question  there  are  two  sides — a  right 
and  a  wrong  one — and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  seek 
light ;  to  have  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  him ;  to  see 
when  he  cannot  argue  against  the  inevitable,  and  in  no 
case  to  be  an  invertebrate. 

The  expounding  of  this  subject  righth'^  belongs  to  the 
medical  jorofession,  while  to  the  layman  is  left  the  work  of 
appointing  the  authorities  who  shall  frame  and  execute  the 
laws ;  so  it  is  surpassingly  important  for  every  citizen  to 
be  thoroughl}^  informed  as  to  the  exact  truth.  Truth  is 
adamantine— absolutely  unbending  and  uncomplying ;  and 
therefore  it  is  not  astonishing  that  the  majority  of  think- 
ing men  and  women,  who  are  in  a  position  to  understand 
the  question,  are  unconditionally  opposed  to  this  unscien- 
tific and  unnatural  law  which  is  rightly  termed  license. 


208  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 


The  INIedical  Examination  of  Prostitutes  for  Disease. 

The  plan  of  compelling  tlie  inmates  of  bawdj'-liouses  to 
submit  to  medical  inspection  once  or  even  twice  a  week  is 
so  unscientific  and  unreasonable  tliat  its  absurdity  cannot 
fail  to  be  at  once  apparent  to  the  merest  tyro  in  medical 
matters ;  and  in  fact,  no  government  or  municipality  which 
has  ever  enforced  this  system  has  been  able  to  materially 
lessen  the  disease  which  goes  hand  in  hand  with  prosti- 
tution. 

In  some  countries,  in  certain  localities  subject  to  mili- 
tary rule,  the  soldiers  as  well  as  the  j)rostitutes  are  sub- 
mitted to  insi:)ection  by  well-qualified  surgeons ;  and  the 
diseased  of  both  sexes  are  promptly  sent  to  hospital  until 
no  longer  considered  capable  of  spreading  contamination. 
Of  course  this  lessens  the  spread  of  venereal  disease  at 
the  military  cantonments ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that 
most  of  the  women,  as  soon  as  they  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are  diseased,  flee  to  the  surrounding  towns  in 
order  to  avoid  the  examinations  of  the  military  surgeons, 
and  there  sjiread  havoc  among  the  civilians  who  are  unpro- 
tected by  the  same  system.  Therefore  all  statistics  com- 
piled from  SLTmy  records  are  inapplicable  to  civilian  com- 
munities w^here  the  uninspected  men  are  free  to  roam  at 
will  and  communicate  disease. 

Laymen  impute  powers  to  the  medical  profession  which 
we  do  not  possess,  and  think  that  any  doctor  can  tell  at  a 
glance  when  a  man  or  a  woman  has  venereal  disease.  But 
in  reality  the  highest  degree  of  medical  skill  is  required  in 
order  to  diagnose  these  disorders,  except  when  they  are  in 
an  active  stage  of  development ;  and  one  examination,  how- 
ever thorough,  is  ijractically  valueless  in  giving  assurance 
of  the  absence  of  venereal  disease.  As  previously  men- 
tioned, it  is  at  times  very  easy  to  say  when  a  patient  has 
venereal  disease,  but  most  diflScult  to  decide  that  he  or  she 


THE  REGULATION   OF   PROSTITUTION.  209 

has  it  not.  For  the  detection  of  gonorrlioea,  several  exam- 
inations must  be  made  by  the  most  skilful  experts;  and 
for  tlie  recognition  of  syphilis  we  have,  during  the  greater 
extent  of  the  i)rogre88  of  the  disease,  absolutely  no  proofs 
except  the  jjatient's  verbal  history  of  the  case — and  those 
who  would  be  subjected  to  inspection  by  force  of  law  would 
naturally  lie. 

To  determine  bacteriological!}^  whether  gonorrhoea  is 
present  or  not,  the  venereal  specialist  is  compelled,  in 
doubtful  cases,  to  keep  the  susi)ect  under  observation  for 
at  least  two  weeks;  and  it  is  a  common  procedure  to  arti- 
ficially produce  an  irritation  in  the  urethra,  in  order  to 
favor  the  reappearance  of  the  disease  germs  in  the  dis- 
charges. 

The  health  department  of  every  town  quarantines  all 
cases  of  small-pox,  scarlet  fever,  yellow  fever,  cholera  and 
diphtheria,  whether  occurring  in  man,  woman,  or  child; 
and  yet  the  regulation  system  has  attempted  to  examine 
onl}^  the  prostitutes  for  venereal  disease,  while  it  is  esti- 
mated that  five  times  as  many  men  as  women  are  unchaste ! 

"  No  system  of  inspection  can  ever  be  effective  so  long  as 
it  applies  to  but  one  party  in  the  act,  and  that  j^arty,  col- 
lectively, in  the  minority.  Regulation  of  vice  is  not  only 
unjust  to  women,  it  is  not  only  immoral  and  cowardly,  but 
it  is  utterly  unscientific.  You  might  as  well  try  to  x>re- 
vent  the  spread  of  small-r^ox  or  cholera  by  quarantining 
one  sex  only." ' 

At  the  time  of  the  medical  examination  of  the  i)rostitute 
for  disease  she  might  appear  x)erfectly  healthy ;  for  the  in- 
cubation period  in  gonorrhoea  lasts  usually  from  two  to  six 
days,  and  in  syphilis  usually  from  ten  to  forty  days,  dur- 
ing which  periods  there  are  no  symptoms,  although  the 
patient  is  almost  certain  to  spread  infection. 

Dr.   Mauriac,   attending  physician   to    the  Hopital  du 

1  "Personal  Purity,"  by  Prof.  Howard  A.  Kelley,  M.D.,  of  Johns 
Hopkins  University. 

14 


210  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

Midi,  Paris,  and  one  of  tlie  greatest  authorities  in  Europe, 
says : 

"  If  jou  imagine  that  the  public  health  is  the  supreme 
law,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  emjjloy  every  means  to 
safeguard  it,  then  strike  at  the  man  as  well  as  the 
woman.  .  .  .  You  exact  from  these  miserable  women 
guarantees  for  your  health,  but  what  guarantees  do  you 
give  them?  None  whatever;  you  infect,  and  you  expect 
not  to  be  infected;  j'ou  have  therefore  caused  the  system 
to  fail." 

At  The  Hague,  in  Holland,  Dr.  Huet,  the  prefect  of 
police,  a  surgeon  of  high  standing,  says :  "  The  number  of 
'  clandestine  '  women  cannot  be  estimated  and  is  continu- 
ally increased.  You  ask  me  if  the  laws  of  regulation  work 
well  for  morality.  I  i'eply,  Ko!  Do  they  work  well  for 
suppression  of  syphilis?  I  reph^,  No!  Do  they  really 
diminish  disease?     M3-  opinion  is.  No,  no,  no!" 

Ph3-sicians  are  beginning  to  deliberate  on  the  expediency 
of  sending  in  to  the  health  dei)artment  reports  of  every 
case  of  venereal  disease,  just  as  thej-  are  now  required  by 
law  to  do  in  cases  of  other  contagious  or  infectious  dis- 
eases; for  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis  are  productive  of  the 
most  deleterious  effects,  so  that  medical  men  believe  that 
it  would  be  far  better  for  the  human  family  if  those  who 
go  about  uncured  were  wiped  out  of  existence. 

If  the  medical  examination  of  prostitutes  did  anything 
to  lessen  venereal  disease  and  insured  a  sanitary  improve- 
ment for  the  community  at  large — if  the  experience  of  other 
nations  had  proved  it  so — if  it  were  scientifically  reasona- 
ble— if  it  shielded  the  innocent  or  diminished  the  amount 
of  prostitution, — we  should  be  inclined  to  favor  it;  for  the 
abolishment  of  such  dire  calamity  from  the  present  race 
and  from  posterity  would  in  a  measure  counterbalance  the 
degradation  inflicted  upon  these  poor  women  whom  men 
have  set  aside  for  torture,  just  as  the  physiologists  have 
set  aside  a  lot  of  guinea-pigs  and  rabbits  and  frogs,  and 


THE   REGULATION   OF   PROSTITUTION.  211 

other    animals  for  vivisection,   with  the  ultimate  public 
good  in  view. 

In  some  parts  of  Europe  the  women  are  driven  in  vans 
bi-weekly  to  disj^ensaries,  where  they  pass  in  review  be- 
fore the  examiners.  Surely  neither  America  nor  England 
can  abide  to  see  these  unsightly  covered  wagons,  nor  tole- 
rate the  house-to-house  visitation ! 

"  In  the  year  1869,  while  studying  in  Paris,  I  used  often 
to  see  passing  along  the  pleasant  streets  great  closed  wag- 
ons, covered  with  black.  Inquiring  of  my  elegant  land- 
lady the  explanation  of  these  sombre  vehicles,  she  an- 
swered sorrowfully :  '  It  is  the  demi-monde  who  go  to  be 
examined. '  I  then  learned  for  the  first  time  that  in  Paris 
fallen  women  have  a  legal  '  permit '  to  carry  on  what  is  a 
recognized  business,  but  must  remain  secluded  in  their 
houses  at  certain  hours,  must  avoid  certain  streets,  and 
must  go  once  a  week,  under  escort  of  the  police,  to  the 
dispensary  for  examination  and  certificate  that  the}"  are 
exempt  from  contagious  disease.  Always  after  that,  those 
awful  wagons  seemed  to  me  to  form  the  most  heart-break- 
ing funeral  procession  that  ever  Christian  woman  watched 
with  aching  heart  and  tear-dimmed  eyes.  If  I  were  asked 
why  there  has  come  about  such  a  revolution  in  public 
thought  that  I  have  gained  the  courage  to  speak  of  things 
once  unlawful  to  be  told,  and  you  may  listen  without  fear 
of  criticism  from  any  save  the  base,  my  answer  would  be : 
Because  lawmakers  tried  to  import  the  black  wagon 
of  Paris  to  England  and  America,  and  Anglo-Saxon  women 
rose  in  rebellion. '  "  ' 

To  obviate  the  necessity  of  appointing  public  examiners, 
it  has  been  proposed  that  the  jDrostitutes  might  be  alloAved 
to  choose  their  own  doctors  for  the  examination.  In  this 
case  then,  any  one  legally'  authorized  to  practise  medicine 
could  sign  the  certificate  of  health,  and  the  outcasts  of  the 

'  Frances  E.  Willard.  Address  before  the  Chicago  Central 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 


212  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

profession  would  soon  get  all  tliis  class  of  work.  Assur- 
edly none  of  the  women  would  patronize  the  scientific  spe- 
cialists— the  only  ones  whose  word  is  worth  having  in  these 
cases — because  their  methods  are  necessarilj'  exact  and 
painstaking,  and  they  would  require  the  patient  to  remain 
under  observation  for  many  days,  even  in  cases  api^arently 
well,  before  signing  any  certificate  of  health.  Though  we 
have  stated  with  emphasis  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
demonstrate  that  a  woman  is  free  from  gonorrhoea  or  syph- 
ilis without  the  most  skilful  methods  of  research,  and 
without  keeping  the  patient  under  observation  for  many 
days  or  even  weeks,  still  let  us  grant  that  a  given  prostitute 
is  perfectly  clean  at  a  given  time.  What  if  she  is?  Does 
she  not  go  from  the  examination  directly  back  to  her  dan- 
gerous calling,  where  the  first  male  with  whom  she  cohab- 
its may  be  infected  with  disease?  And  will  not  all  who 
follow  after  this  diseased  man  be  jeopardized? 

Any  i^erson  of  common  sense  must  quickly  see  that  all 
these  perfunctory  medical  examinations  of  the  prostitutes 
are  outrageously  i)reposterous,  and  that  the  quarantine,  in 
order  to  have  any  value,  must  be  extended  so  that  the 
equally  diseased  fivefold  majority  shall  also  be  subjected 
to  medical  inspection  before  they  are  allowed  to  set  foot  in 
the  brothels. 

Any  system  of  regulation  dealing  with  the  highly  in- 
fectious and  serious  venereal  diseases  x^i'ecisely  as  with 
the  specific  contagious  fevers  would  be  cordiallj-  indorsed 
by  every  scientific  man,  and  this  is  the  only  possible  way 
in  which  to  check  the  spread  of  these  maladies;  but,  in 
order  to  enforce  it,  we  should  be  compelled  to  provide  a 
large  increase  in  the  police  force  for  patrolling  the  haunts 
of  vice,  and  to  imprison  in  the  lazaretto  all  those  who  are 
diseased,  male  and  female  alike. 


THE  REGULATION   OP   PROSTITUTION.  213 


The  Cruelty  and  Injustice  of  the  Eegulation  System. 

Expediency  may  at  times  render  necessary  tlie  tempo- 
rary enactment  of  laws  wliich  are  not  altogether  equitable; 
as,  for  instance,  wlien  civil  riglits  are  extinguished  or  sus- 
pended by  martial  law  to  the  fullest  extent  required  by  the 
exigencies  of  war.  But  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
in  a  republican  form  of  government,  legislation  must  be 
api^lied  with  equal  justice  to  man,  woman  and  child,  of 
all  sorts  and  conditions.  Let  us  consider  then,  if  We  can 
tolerate  those  iniquitous  laws  which  the  European  Govern- 
ments have  long  enforced,  but  will  abandon,  in  all  proba- 
bility, within  the  next  few  years. 

Now  in  vivid  narration  we  must  record  the  self-evident 
fact  that  both  sexes  are  concerned  in  illegitimate  love  and 
adultery,  but  unequally  so,  with  the  disadvantage  against 
the  men.  It  is  the  males  who  form  the  fivefold  majority, 
who  supply  the  capital  bj^  which  the  trade  thrives,  and 
who  create  the  demand  which  sui)i)orts  the  trafiic  in  girls 
■ — it  is  they  who  infect  their  pure  wives,  and  spread  conta- 
gion from  one  house  of  ill-fame  to  another. 

Any  government  which  enforces  unjust  legislation  com- 
mits the  greatest  possible  crime  against  its  j)eople;  but 
governments  are  in  the  control  of  men,  and  men  never  have 
been  gallant  to  the  weali  and  the  disfranchised. 

Such  laws  are  axiomatically  bad,  because  they  are  liable 
to  great  abuses ;  and  there  is  painful  and  abundant  evidence 
that  respectable  girls,  who  must  of  necessity  go  along  the 
streets  at  night  unattended,  have  been  insulted  and  out- 
raged bj^  the  officials  authorized  to  enforce  the  provisions 
of  the  regulation  laws. 

"  Here  are  a  few  stories  showing  how  regulation  works 
in  foreign  lands  : 

**  In  Brescia,  Italy,  a  respectable  young  woman  was  ar- 


214  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

rested  by  the  police  wlio  worked  tlie  system.  She  wept 
and  implored  to  be  spared  the  humiliation  of  examination, 
declaring  that  she  was  virtuous  and  pure,  and  her  old  father 
and  mother  also  protested  and  implored  in  vain.  She  was 
dragged  to  the  hospital  and  subjected  to  the  examination. 
When  brought  before  the  doctor  her  manner  was  entirely 
changed ;  she  no  longer  implored  or  wept ;  she  was  calm 
and  decided.  After  the  examination,  the  doctor  pro- 
nounced her  a  virgin.  She  waited  until  he  had  made  a 
declaration  to  this  effect,  and  then,  without  uttering  a  word, 
went  to  the  window  and  threw  herself  out.  She  was  taken 
up  dead. 

"In  Paris  a  respectable  young  working-woman  went  out 
in  the  evening  to  fetch  a  doctor  for  her  child,  taken  sud- 
denly ill  with  the  croup.  The  '  morals  i^olice, '  as  they  are 
hypocritically  called  in  France,  chose  to  '  suspect '  her  of 
being  a  prostitute,  and  arrested  her.  She  exj^lained  mat- 
ters to  them,  and  told  them  that  her  child  was  dying  of 
croup.  They  jeered  at  her,  and  insisted  on  taking  her  to 
the  examination  house.  There  the  poor  woman,  distraught 
at  being  prevented  from  caring  for  her  child,  and  appalled 
by  the  outrage  to  which  she  was  subjected,  very  naturally 
went  into  hysterics.  Then  the  police  charged  her  with  be- 
ing '  a  drunk  and  disorderly  prostitute, '  and  she  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  month's  imprisonment.  Her  baby  died  during 
her  absence,  and  when  she  got  out  of  prison  she  was  child- 
less and  '  a  registered  i:)rostitute. '  "  ' 

Many,  many  instances  of  the  grossest  cruelty  occur  daily 
wherever  the  inspection  system  is  in  force.  Police  super- 
vision can  reach  only  a  small  number  of  loose  women, 
and  such  are  easily  blackmailed.  The  great  mass  of 
harlots  seek  to  hide  their  shame,  and  never  come  for- 
ward voluntarily  to  be  blacklisted;    these  go  about  with 

'  "State  Regulation  of  the  Social  Evil,"  by  Howard  A.  Kelly, 
A.M.,  M.D. ,  Professor  of  Gynecology,  Johns  Hopkins  University, 
Baltimore,  Md. 


THE  REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  215 

their  secret  diseases,  and  never  can  be  included   in   tlie 
inspection. 

The  infected  women  should  in  every  way  be  encouraged 
to  seek  medical  relief;  but  if  a  clandestine  prostitute  ap- 
ply for  treatment  she  is  certain  to  be  reported  and  put 
on  the  register.  Naturally  they  detest  the  thought  of  be- 
ing in  the  power  of  the  jjolice  doctors  and  of  being  com- 
pelled to  report  for  examinations ;  and  they  do  not  wish  to 
be  forced  to  withdraw  from  thciir  avocation,  even  tempora- 
rily. Consequently  these  women,  being  led  to  hide  their 
disease,  are  more  dangerous  by  far  than  the  prostitutes  in 
unregulated  countries,  who  do  not  hesitate  to  apply  for 
relief  at  the  dispensaries  and  hospitals. 

Compulsory  examination  is  in  its  abstract  audacity  a 
legalized  assault.  It  is  an  easy  matter  for  the  police  to 
entraj)  and  register  and  outrage  every  unprotected  woman 
who  has  no  visible  means  of  support;  but  it  is  an  awful 
sight  to  see  those  of  them  who  refuse  to  be  degraded  by 
examination  in  the  ugly  prison  garb  which  is  put  upon 
them  as  a  punishment. 

Such  injustice  is  intolerable  in  enlightened  countries. 
Without  trial,  without  the  right  of  appeal,  with  no  provi- 
sion for  redress,  robbed  of  all  the  most  inviolable  personal 
rights,  these  women  are  to  be  more  grossly  enslaved  by 
the  police  authorities  than  ever  the  Africans  were,  and  are 
to  be  forcibly  subjected  to  the  authoritative  will  of  the  most 
unscrupulous  and  inefficient  pariahs  of  the  medical  profes- 
sion,— those  low-caste  officers  of  the  law  styled  "medical 
inspectors  of  prostitutes." 

The  days  of  a  nation  are  numbered  when  it  allows  con- 
siderations of  policy  to  supersede  conscience — when  it 
metes  out  injustice  and  brutality- — when  it  protects  a  com- 
merce which  places  the  young,  the  poor,  and  the  innocent 
at  the  merc3^  of  the  foulest  bidders  for  human  flesh,  and 
when  it  fashions  its  laws  in  compromise  with  the  Devil. 

TJie  Results  of  the  Regulation  System. — In  plain  words. 


216  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

sucli  a  system  gives  sanction  and  i)rotection  to  brothels, 
though  not  disputing  that  these  quarters  are  the  manufac- 
tories of  everything  that  is  indecent,  and  the  harbors  of 
refuge  for  every  class  of  men  whom  the  detectives  seek. 
In  no  possible  way  could  the  State  do  more  to  demoralize 
society,  spread  disease,  ruin  posterity,  and  protect  crimi- 
nals. This  has  been  so  obvious  in  those  countries  where 
the  regulation-laws  have  been  in  force,  that  municipality 
after  municipality  has  seen  fit  to  abandon  them ;  and  royal 
commissions  of  eminently  well-qualified  men,  including 
some  of  Europe's  most  eminent  scientists,  such  as  Huxley, 
Virchow,  Blaschko,  Neumann,  etc.,  have  unanimously  and 
unequivocably  proclaimed  this  method  most  unscientific 
and  a  complete  fraud. 

See  how  the  results  of  this  system  appeared  in  Berlin  in 
1892.  "In  the  consideration  of  this  question,  the  joropor- 
tion  of  public  to  private  prostitution  in  Berlin  is  important. 
"V^'liile  more  than  5,000  i)rostitutes  are  registered,  accord- 
ing to  police  estimates  more  than  50,000  live  by  prostitu- 
tion."' ^ 

In  Paris  it  is  even  worse.  The  police  look  on  stupefied 
and  aghast  at  the  awful  condition  which  has  grown  up 
around  them,  and  are  forced  to  acknowledge  that  their  vile 
system  of  tyranny  can  reach  only  one-tenth  of  the  women 
who  live  by  prostitution. 

And  even  with  inspections  the  police  surgeons  do  not 
begin  to  make  efficient  reports. 

"Neisser,  of  Breslau,  Avith  several  assistants,  examined 
573  prostitutes;  and  in  21G  he  found  gonococci  present 
(37.6  per  cent).  Dr.  Passavant,  of  Paris,  is  quoted  as 
saying  that  out  of  every  100  inscribed  women,  35  to  50 
per  cent  have  venereal  disease.  Dr.  Fiaux  shows  that 
in  Belgium,  in  1881-1889,  one-half  of  the  inmates  of  the 
licensed  houses  had  to  be  sent  to  the  hospitals  for  treat- 

'  "Suggestive  Therapeutics  in  Psychopathia  Sexualis, "  Schrenck- 
Notzing,  p.  38.     Translated  by  Chaddock. 


THE  REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  217 

menfc  with  venereal  disease,  of  wliom  about  50  per  cent 
were  syphilitic.  Of  inscribed  women,  about  one-third 
were  treated  at  the  hospitals,  about  one-sixth  of  these 
being  syphilitic.  Laser,  in  an  extensive  examination  of 
prostitutes  for  the  presence  of  gonococci,  found  in  the  ex- 
amination of  the  urethra  of  353  patients  that  the  gonococci 
could  be  demonstrated  112  times,  although  in  four-fifths 
of  these  cases  there  was  no  macroscopical  evidence  of  gon- 
orrhea. Several  of  these  i)atients  had  been  discharged 
from  the  hospitals  as  cured."  ' 

After  prolonged  trial  of  the  method,  the  consensus  of 
opinion  among  scientific  men  and  among  the  police  ofii- 
cials  is  that  the  system  is  inefficient. 

"  The  general  opinion  in  the  Berlin  Congress  was  that 
venereal  disease  was  on  the  increase,  and  that  measures 
must  be  taken  to  check  its  advance.  Blaschko  in  his  paper 
stated  that,  from  the  standpoint  of  public  hygiene,  no  ben- 
efit whatever  was  received  from  the  control  as  then  prac- 
tised. A  commission  consisting  of  Virchow,  Blaschko, 
Meyer,  Strassm.an,  Langerhaus,  Villaret,  B.  Frankel,  Pis- 
tor,  Lewin,  S.  Neumann,  B.  and  M.  Wolf  were  appointed 
to  consider  the  subject;  and  they  reported  that  the  sani- 
tary conditions  aud  measures  existing  in  Berlin  for  the 
prevention  and  treatment  of  venereal  disease  were  insuffi- 
cient. And  this  was  the  general  opinion  arrived  at  by  all 
the  men  throughout  Europe  who  had  the  investigation  in 
hand,  that  the  protection  did  not  protect,  neither  did  the 
control  check  the  advance  of  the  evil. 

"  Having  arrived  at  this  definite  conclusion,  the  next  point 
was  what  should  be  done.  Here  the  opinions  varied  great- 
ly. One  of  the  French  ministers  told  Lassar  that  the  con- 
ditions varied  so  in  the  different  cities  that  no  general  law 
was  possible,  but  that  each  municipality  must  deal  with 
the  problem  as  it  was  presented  to  it.     Another  French 

'  " Prostitution— The  Relation  of  the  Experience  of  Europe  to  the 
Solution  of  the  Problem  in  Boston,"  by  Arthur  K.  Stone,  M.D. 


218  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

minister,  Gaj^ot,  wlio  Las  given  this  subject  a  great  deal 
of  study  and  written  a  book  upon  prostitution,  lias  readied 
the  conclusion  that  abolition  is  the  proper  thing  and  pros- 
titution is  a  moral  and  personal  question,  and  that  there 
was  no  reason  why  it  should  be  recognized  by  j)rotecting 
law,  taking  the  position  that  has  so  far  been  held  in  Eng- 
land and  America." ' 

If  one  city  maintain  the  regulation  system,  the  neigh- 
boring cities  and  towns  suffer,  because  the  women  very 
naturally  migrate  from  the  "protected"  districts,  where 
they  will  be  subjected  to  outrage,  and  even  imprisonment 
if  diseased.  In  the  same  manner,  if  one  nation  enforces 
this  SA^stem,  the  contiguous  nations  suffer;  thus,  London 
is  filled  with  the  refuse  of  Euroi)e's  prostitutes.  If  the 
advocates  of  the  regulation  system  are  in  earnest  about 
protecting  the  decent  members  of  the  comniunity,  they  will 
make  provision  that  the  men  must  have  licenses  to  indulge 
in  fornication  as  well  as  the  women ;  that  licenses  will  not 
under  any  circumstances  be  issued  to  married  men,  but 
only  to  boys  past  eighteen  and  bachelors  and  widowers ; 
that  both  sexes  must  submit  to  an  inspection  far  more 
searching  than  anything  now  required;  that  the  license  of 
a  diseased  male  or  female  profligate  shall  be  revoked  and 
the  victim  incarcerated  in  a  lazaretto  until  pronounced  in- 
nocuous by  a  skilled  corps  of  medical  examiners,  consist- 
ing of  female  physicians  for  the  women,  and  of  male  phy- 
sicians for  the  men ;  and  that  if  a  woman  become  pregnant 
she  shall  be  withdrawn,  tenderly  cared  for  in  a  retreat,  and 
her  illegitimate  child  reared  up  as  a  ward  of  the  State 
until  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

If  some  lawyer  w^ill  take  his  cue  from  the  above  and 
elaborate  such  a  bill  in  legal  form  for  presentation  to  a 
legislative  body,  there  will  be  thousands  of  sensible  people 
who  will  support  it.  As  a  rider  to  his  bill  he  should  also 
make  provision  for  an  increase  in  the  local  police  force  in 
»A.  K.  Stone.,  M.D..  loc.  cit. 


THE   REGULATION   OF  PROSTITUTION.  '219 

order  to  coutend  successfully  with  tlie  oppositiou  of  the 
meu  who  might  be  relied  upcm  to  rebel  against  such  brutal 
tj'rami}'  and  the  abrogation  of  their  rights  as  citizens. 

Tlte  Tliree  Methods  of  Dealing  ivith  Prosfifutloii. — The 
following  systems  present  themselves  for  our  considera- 
tion: 

I.  The  Sj^stem  of  Toleration — laissezfaire — or  the  "Let- 
Alone  Sj'stem." 

II.  The  System  of  Regulation,  or  the  system  of  traffic 
which  demands  the  legal  sacrifice  of  fresh  young  women 
continually. 

II.  The  Sj'stem  of  Repression,  which  seeks  to  reduce 
impurity  to  a  minimum. 

From  these  three  systems  our  lawmakers  have  the  priv- 
ilege of  selecting. 

We  must  candidly  own  that  the  proper  solution  of  this 
problem  is  ver^^  difficult  indeed,  being  surrounded  with 
obstacles  which  are  all  dej)endeut  on  ignorance  and  mis- 
conception ;  and  we  crave  pardon  for  expressing  our  firm 
conviction  that  no  individual  is  competent  to  -pass  judg- 
ment who  does  not  fully  understand  all  the  subject-matter 
of  this  book,  and  even  more.  The  expounding  of  the  ques- 
tion is  i)roperly  the  task  of  students  w^ho  have  enlightened 
themselves  on  the  science  of  sex-life;  but  on  the  other 
hand,  we  are  often  grieved  to  see  men  with  an  equipment 
of  dangerous  pseudo-science  placed  in  positions  of  trust 
and  power. 

Legislation  cannot  purify  men's  hearts  nor  make  them 
more  virtuous ;  but  it  can  by  corrupt  laws  rapidly  develop 
an  enormous  number  of  uncontrollable  libertines  whose 
children  will  inherit  their  feelings  and  tendencies — and 
then  what  hope  is  there  for  our  dear  country  ? 

Society  cannot  be  purified  by  devoting  sections  of  cities 
to  the  practice  of  immoralities  which  i^oisou  the  sources 
whence  posterity  is  to  come.  This  may  hide  from  a  portion 
of  the  community  the  external  signs  of  the  fructification 


220  HEREDITY    AND    MORALS. 

of  corruption,  but  it  cannot  prevent  licentiousness  from 
growing  and  rankling,  and  extending  diffusely. 

Christianity  cannot  countenance  such  immoral  laws ;  for 
it  has  elevated  woman  to  a  rightful  social  equality'  with 
man,  and  has  thus  been  the  most  powerful  of  all  influences 
in  establishing  a  normal  standard  for  the  sexual  relations. 
Better  the  p>olygamy  and  the  harems  of  the  Mohammedans 
than  the  devices  of  the  modern  God-defying  anti-Christians 
who  are  more  than  eighteen  centuries  behind  the  times. 

It  must  be  particularly  noticed  that,  where  the  Eegula- 
tion  System  is  in  force,  the  law  does  not  imi)ose  j)enalties 
on  the  girls  for  the  sin  of  being  prostitutes — far  from  it ; 
but  only  if  they  refuse  to  comply  with  the  demands  of  the 
police  for  frequent  and  brutal  examinations.  If  by  chance 
they  escape  disease,  the  law  encourages  them  to  continue 
in  their  trade,  and  to  ox^Dose  themselves  to  the  embraces 
of  unexamined  men,  an  enormous  number  of  whom  are 
diseased.  Young  girls  can  be  decoyed  and  bought  and 
destroyed  as  easily,  almost,  as  sheep;  and  when  the  legal 
stamp  of  infamy,  and  the  "abiding  seal  of  shame,"  is 
affixed  to  them,  they  have  not  even  the  humane  rights 
which  civilized  communities  accord  to  animals. 

How  can  a  chivalrous  nation  treat  unfortunate  women  as 
the  mere  instruments  of  man's  i:)leasure?  Why  is  it  that 
a  nation  should  be  so  careful  to  throw  safeguards  around 
the  vicious  men,  and  bait  their  ajipetites  with  healthy  girls 
whom  it  does  not  scruple  to  sacrifice  to  disease,  infamy 
and  death?  Why  should  the  State  leave  the  most  impor- 
tant fivefold  aggressive  majority  unregulated? 

It  is  partly  because  vicious  legislators  are  given  control, 
and  partly  because  of  the  a|)athy  and  indifference  which 
pure  women  show  for  the  humiliation  of  their  sex,  and  the 
welcome  which  so-called  good  society  holds  out  to  liber- 
tines. 

The  Anglo-Saxon  race  cannot  tinderstandingly  tolerate 
such  gross  injustice  to  the  personal  rights  and  liberties  of 


THE   REGULATION  OF   PROSTITUTION.  221 

any  one  class  as  tliat  of  enslaving  and  outlawing  tliein,  and 
at  the  Bame  time  legally  employing  them  for  the  wanton 
pleasure  of  its  coarse  men.  Better  than  this  is  the  "  Let- 
Alone  System,"  which  jjermits  licentiousness  to  stalk  with 
bold  face  in  our  streets,  soliciting  in  our  parks  and  thor- 
oughfares, and  shocking  our  sense  of  decency  by  brazen- 
faced displa}'.  Better  to  have  assignation-houses  and 
brothels  spring  up  sporadically  than  to  establish  by  legal 
sanction  sections  in  the  city  which  become  the  recognized 
foci  from  which  emanate  fornication,  adultery,  disease, 
drunkenness,  divorce,  illegitimacy  and  abortions — manu- 
factories for  the  corruption  of  our  young  men,  schools  for 
the  debasement  of  the  sentiments  of  society,  and  will-o'- 
the-wisps  which  by  their  lying  lights  betray  and  lure  our 
fellows  to  destruction. 

Dr.  Chanfleury,  of  Holland,  who  was  for  many  j^ears  an 
advocate  of  the  Begulation  System,  and  ojSicially  emj^loyed 
in  the  work  of  sujiervision,  reported  his  final  conclusions 
regarding  the  system  to  the  last  meeting  of  the  "  Continen- 
tal Federation  for  the  Suppression  of  State  Kegulation"  as 
follows : 

"  1st.  That  it  is  absolutely  impossible  by  any  medical 
supervision  to  guarantee  the  health  of  a  woman  leading  a 
life  of  vice. 

2d.  That  any  partial  advantages  of  such  supervision  are 
more  than  compensated  by  the  increase  of  libertinism 
engendered  by  a  false  sense  of  securit}',  so  that  such  super- 
vision actually  results  in  increased  disease  among  men. 

3d,  That  the  attempt  at  supervision  is  demoralizing  to 
all  engaged  in  it." 

And  the  eminent  French  statesman,  M.  Jules  Faure, 
who  exi)resses  the  verdict  of  exjoerienced  men  in  conti- 
nental Europe,  says : 

"  Governments  have  never  looked  tlie  question  of  i-)rosti- 
tution  fairly  in  the  face ;  but  when  interfering  at  all,  have 
almost  invariably  done  so  in  order  to  elevate  it  into  an 


222  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

institution,  by  wliicli  means  they  liave  increased  and  given 
permanence  to  tlie  evil.  Regard  for  tlie  public  health  is 
their  sole  excuse.  But  even  the  worst  that  could  befall 
the  public  health  is  nothing  to  the  corruption  of  morals 
and  national  life  engendered,  i)ropagated,  and  prolonged 
by  the  system  of  official  surveillance.  It  is  utterly  inex- 
cusable, and  an  act  of  supreme  folly,  to  give  a  legal  sanc- 
tion to  the  licentiousness  of  one  sex  and  the  enslavement 
of  the  other." 

In  some  of  these  countries  illegitimacy  is  not  considered 
a  great  national  calamity,  for  the  enormous  foundling 
asjdums  supply  boys  for  soldiers,  and  girls  for  work  in  the 
various  state  institutions — many  of  the  girls  sinking  into 
the  brothels. 

"  It  ought  to  arouse  suspicion  that  this  movement  is  sup- 
ported by  the  brothel-keepers;  but  the  association  has 
adopted  a  fair-sounding  name,  the  Woman's  Rescue  League. 
It  proposes  to  appeal  to  the  women  of  the  country,  appar- 
ently in  the  interests  of  morality,  and  it  professes  to  be 
working  only  for  the  i^ublic  health.  Now,  all  these  things 
are  deceptive ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  they  are  put 
forward  with  the  aid  of  persons  who  make  a  living  out  of 
vice,  you  may  be  sure  they  are  meant  to  be  deceptive.  I 
have  no  doubt  whatever  but  that  many  good  people,  many 
good  Christians,  even,  sincerely  believe  that  the  regulation 
of  vice  is  right  and  x)roper  in  the  interests  of  good  morals. 
I  am  just  as  sure  that  if  they  really  knew  what  regulated 
vice  is  they  would  have  none  of  it ;  they  would  recognize  it 
for  what  Dr.  Charles  Bell  Taylor,  on  the  second  reading  of 
a  '  Bill  for  the  Repeal  of  the  Contagious  Diseases  Acts, '  in 
England,  called  it  in  the  House  of  Commons,  a  '  despot- 
ism so  obscenely  cruel,  so  hideously  unjust,  so  unconstitu- 
tional, that  it  is  impossible  to  understand  how  any  decent 
race  of  men  can  consent  to  endure  it,  even  for  a  day.'  It 
is  an  interesting  comment  on  a  movement  which  asks  the 
decent  men  and  women  of  Washington  for  regulation,  to 


THE  REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  223 

read  that  while  the  English  regulation  rules  were  in  force 
in  India,  the  Parsees  of  the  country  and  the  Buddhists  of 
China  defied  the  Christian  English  to  put  the  examinations 
of  women  in  force  over  their  women !  "  ' 

The  London  Daily  News  of  November  7th,  1896,  says : 

"  Our  Dunkirk  corresx)ondent  writes :  The  police  author- 
ities here  have  been  advised  of  the  arrival,  at  an  early  date, 
of  a  gang  of  evildoers,  who,  for  some  time  past,  have  with 
impunity  been  engaged  in  an  infamous  traffic.  These 
scoundrels,  who,  in  reality,  are  purveyors  for  houses  of  low 
character  in  New  York,  Buenos  Ayres,  Montevideo,  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  etc.,  operate  in  the  usual  manner.  By  means 
of  advertisements  they  entrap  young  girls  into  accepting 
situations  as  governesses,  nursery  maids,  domestic  ser- 
vants, etc.  The  sequel  need  hardly  be  stated.  Their  vic- 
tims are  conducted  to  places  whose  character  can  be  easily 
defined.  Once  in  such  a  house,  the  poor  girls  are  lost  for- 
ever. Fortunately',  full  information  is  now  in  the  hands  of 
the  authorities,  and  the  band  of  unjjrincipled  ruffians,  who 
have  already  worked  so  much  mischief,  will  undoubtedly 
be  at  no  distant  date  brought  to  account." 

In  "unregulated"  England  such  an  infamous  traffic  is 
not  tolerated,  while  in  "regulated"  countries  it  is  tacitly 
countenanced  by  the  i)olice.  In  the  la,iter  countries  the 
governments  have  salaried  spies,  policemen,  doctors  and 
commissioners ;  and  these  men  cannot  loropper  unless  they 
make  work  for  themselves. 

Do  the  wretched  young  women  who  live  in  these  houses 
get  rich?  Oh,  no !  They  are  sold  body  and  sonl  to  the 
brothel-keepers,  and  are  in  an  abject  bondage  of  slavery  to 
the  police  and  to  their  mistresses.  They  have  no  more 
chances  of  getting  rich  than  the  live-stock  on  a  farm. 

"  The  girls  suffer  so  much  that  the  shortness  of  their 
miserable  life  is  the  only  redeeming  feature.  Whether  we 
*Prof.  H.  A.  Kelley,  loo.  cit. 


224  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

look  at  the  wretcliedness  of  the  life  itself ;  their  perpetual 
intoxication;  the  cruel  treatment  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected by  their  task-masters  and  mistresses  or  bullies ;  the 
hopelessness,  suffering,  and  desxjair  induced  by  their  cir- 
cumstances and  surroundings;  the  depths  of  misery,  deg- 
radation, and  poverty  to  which  they  eventually  descend; 
or  their  treatment  in  sickness,  their  friendlessness  and 
loneliness  in  deaths  it  must  be  admitted  that  a  more  dis- 
mal lot  seldom  falls  to  the  fate  of  a  human  being."  ' 

A  distinguished  Englishwoman,  Mrs.  Josephine  E.  But- 
ler, one  of  the  world's  foremost  workers  for  the  cause  of 
fallen  women,  and  President  of  the  "  British,  Continental, 
and  General  Federation  for  the  Abolition  of  State  Regu- 
lated Prostitution,"  says: 

"  State  prostitution  is  the  most  rapidly  corrui:)tiug  influ- 
ence you  can  imagine.  Pastor  Durand  said  to  me  at 
Liege,  '  Tell  your  friends  in  England  thej^  do  not  under- 
stand it.  It  is  the  greatest  and  most  terrible  hindrance 
to  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  we  have  in  our  schools  and 
churches.'  In  Belgium  there  is  a  great  moral  revival. 
TMien  I  was  in  Brussels  I  was  sjieaking  about  this  to  the 
Minister  of  Justice,  and  he  said :  '  We  saw  that  our  nation 
would  cease  to  be ;  it  was  in  an  odious  state  of  rottenness 
in  the  midst  of  the  nations.  It  was  destroying  the  physi- 
cal and  mental  and  moral  vitality  of  the  j^eople.  We  had 
touched  the  bottom.'  " 

If  the  license  system  were  instituted  here,  there  would 
be  an  international  traffic  in  women,  and  scores  of  out- 
lawed women  and  prostitutes  with  hidden  or  chronic  dis- 
eases would  flock  to  our  shores  to  get  registered,  in  order 
to  become  mistresses  of  establishments,  and  would  teach 
new  forms  of  vice  to  our  men  and  harlots. 

No  vivid  word-painter,  no  mint  for  the  coinage  of  new 
and  poignant  terms,  could  bring  forth  language  which 
would  fully  express  the  horror  of  our  detestation  of  such 
'  Booth,  "  In  Darkest  England, "  p.  71. 


THE   REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  225 

a  fatal  j)olicy  as  legalized  vice,  promoted  libertinism,  and 
encouraged  procurement.  Let  lawmakers  foresee  tlie  after- 
math and  comprehend  the  after-reckoning,  and  not  think 
that  calamity  can  be  averted  by  a  fondling  of  or  conces- 
sion to  such  a  monster ! 

The  Repressive  System,  which  aims  to  subdue  and  quell 
this  nefarious  business,  is  the  onh'  method  which  appeals 
to  the  true  citizen.  A  righteous  nation  will  not  say  that 
its  men  must  be  impure  in  order  to  remain  healthy  and 
virile ;  for  that  is  false  physiology,  and  necessarily  demands 
the  sacrifice  of  women,  who  every  one  grants  should  be 
chaste. 

A  nation  as  well  as  an  individual  can  commit  a  sin  which 
is  bej^ond  pardon,  and  its  citizens  can  just  as  readily  be- 
come "sin's  fools"  in  the  aggregate  as  in  the  segregate. 

Some  apologists  for  prostitution  profess  to  believe  that 
repression  would  be  followed  by  outbreaks  of  violent  licen- 
tiousness, and  they  are  in  a  measure  correct.  We  do  not 
wish  to  take  an  extreme  position,  such  as  has  been  tried 
heretofore,  and  do  not  urge  measures  which  will  attempt 
immediately  to  legislate  the  communit\^  into  morality — for 
that  cannot  be  done. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  visible  outbreaks  of  indecency 
which  are  now  and  again  apparent  in  every  locality  are 
no  more  than  symptoms  of  a  diseased  society ;  and  cer- 
tainly we  cannot  hope  to  palliate  the  malady  by  recom- 
mending more  of  the  very  poison  which  produced  the 
toxic  effect.  We  must  at  least  avoid  adding  fuel  to  the 
flames. 

With  so  many  corrupt  men  and  women  in  the  commu- 
nity of  every  large  city,  and  with  so  many  nervous  "  step- 
children of  Nature,"  it  would  be,  we  think,  sheer  madness 
to  close  at  once  all  the  long-endured  brothels,  and  that  is 
not  what  we  mean  by  the  Repressive  System.  What  is 
first  necessary  is  the  enlightenment  of  the  public  in  the 
correct  phvsiological  law  that  the  principles  of  nature  and 
15 


226  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

of  hygiene  conform,  and  that  one  individual's  liealth  is 
never  dependent  on  another's  damnation. 

Even  in  the  scheme  of  government  of  the  universe  we 
are  taught  that  there  is  a  place  without  the  gates  of  the 
Holy  City  where  there  are  reprobates  of  all  kinds ;  and 
quite  plainly,  also,  it  is  seemingly  prudent  to  tolerate  such 
a  vnet,  for  the  immediate  present,  at  least,  in  our  large 
cities.  But  the  law  should  take  the  stand  that  such  a  sec- 
tion is  a  hell-gate  and  a  mischievous  pest,  and  not  the 
abiding-place  of  Nature's  G(xl.  And  the  law  also  should 
at  once  take  the  stand  that  in  this  destructive  business  the 
men  should  be  amenable  to  the  same  punishments  as  the 
women ;  and  that  the  gentler  sex,  the  sex  which  bears  chil- 
dren, should  not  be  jjortioned  off  as  instruments  for  the 
irresponsible  lust  of  profligate  men. 

Alcoholic  drinks  should  not  be  permitted  to  be  sold  in 
brothels;  minors  of  either  sex  and  married  men  should 
not  be  allowed  there;  the  "age  of  consent"  should  be 
raised  to  eighteen  years ;  soliciting  on  streets,  whether  by 
men  or  women,  should  be  a  misdemeanor ;  procurers  should 
be  dealt  with  by  the  imposition  of  crushing  punishments, 
and  in  every  possible  manner  the  way  to  reform  should  be 
made  easy.  If  temptations  be  removed,  the  desires  of  the 
men  will  be  lessened,  and  unprotected  women  will  not  be 
so  liable  to  insult  as  they  are  in  Continental  cities  where 
morality  is  low.  The  commerce  of  procuring  is  reduced 
to  the  lowest  possible  limits  by  this  method;  and  only 
those  who  are  naturally  vicious  wall  resort  to  licentious- 
ness. Unquestionably,  thousands  upon  thousands  would 
refrain  from  immoral  jiractices  if  a  judicious  repressive 
system  were  in  force.  With  the  decrease  in  the  number 
of  brothels  would  coine  a  decrease  also  in  the  amount  of 
clandestine  i)rostitution,  as  we  may  read  from  the  experi- 
ence of  foreign  cities.  Fallen  women,  if  they  desired, 
would  have  a  chance  to  reform ;  illegitimacy  would  be  enor- 
mously lessened,  and  crimes  would  diminish,  for  every 


THE   REGULATION  OF  PROSTITUTION.  227 

policeman  and  every  detective  know  that  brotliels  are  the 
hot-beds  of  every  evil  machination. 

Debauchery  and  disease  would  lessen,  and  we  should 
have  fewer  of  those  sexual  perverts  who  resort  to  the  low- 
est degradation  of  infamy  such  as  are  common  in  vice- 
infected  haunts,  and  such  as  the  inhabitants  of  Pompeii 
practised.  Pompeii,  the  i^agan  city  whose  vileness  was 
covered  by  "indignant  Vesuvius,"  reads  the  traveller  a 
lesson  on  the  depths  of  infamy  to  which  a  people  who  are 
given  up  to  libertinism  will  come.  Over  the  doors  of  her 
well-preserved  brothels,  in  sight  of  the  passers-by  on  the 
streets,  are  the  exaggerated  genital  organs  of  the  male, 
which  seemed  to  be  facile  princeps  in  their  estimation, 
as  in  the  mind  of  manj^  a  man  to-day.  On  the  walls 
within  these  brothels  there  are  yet  to  be  seen  frescoes,  in 
a  wonderful  state  of  preservation,  illustratiug  every  con- 
ceivable perversion  which  any  demon  might  invent.  And 
in  the  locked  rooms  in  the  museum  at  Naples,  closed  to 
women,  we  have  seen  the  obscene  statues  which  point  us 
to  that  abj^ss  of  shame  to  which  we  too  shall  descend  if  we 
trifle  with,  or  encourage,  or  countenance  impurity  in  our 
sexual  relations. 

Repressive  measures  inflict  no  hardship  on  any  individ- 
ual or  class,  while  the  license  system  and  the  tolerating 
system  do;  for  where  jn-ostitution  flourishes,  the  women's 
interests  are  never  considered  as  of  anj-thing  like  equal 
importance  to  the  men's.  Any  law  liable  to  great  abuse 
or  without  equity  should  have  no  life  in  a  republic. 
Laws  are  meant  to  punish  the  vicious,  to  protect  the  weak, 
to  throw  safeguards  around  minors  and  the  unprotected, 
to  encourage  right-doing,  to  honor  the  sanctity  of  mar- 
riage ;  and  not  to  appoint  any  policeman,  physician,  or 
other  agent  to  degrade  himself  by  the  cowardl}'  and  un- 
manly work  of  helping  along  a  traffic  whose  object  is  to 
sacrifice  an  untold  number  of  young  women  to  the  basest 
passions  of  a  mob  of  coarse  and  diseased  men. 


228  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

All  tliat  we  ask  is  tliat  brave  and  linmane  men  will 
merely  do  their  duty  as  they  understand  it — reverencing 
all  women,  and  not  consigning,  by  their  influence  or  their 
votes,  thousands  of  them  to  the  extremest  agony  of  shame 
and  the  darkest  abysm  of  degradation. 


CHAPTER  Ym. 

Ckiminal  Aboetion. 

"Murder  most  foul,  as  iu  the  best  it  is; 
But  this  most  foul,  strange  and  unnatural." 

Hamlet,  Act.  i.,  Sc.  5. 

Illegiteviacy,  or  the  alternative  of  Criminal  Abortion,  is 
the  goal  to  which  the  i^ath  of  lust  inevitably  leads. 

To  be  deprived  of  the  endearing  love  of  a  i)arent,  to  be 
born  out  of  wedlock,  a  bastard,  is  the  most  unfair  legacy 
which  can  be  bequeathed  to  a  child;  while  abortion  is 
nothing  but  "murder  most  foul,"  a  secret  killing  -vsdth  -pxe- 
meditated  malice — a  proof  that  the  "  wages  of  sin  is  death." 

The  generation  of  new  individuals,  i.e.,  the  perpetuation 
of  the  species — is  of  course  the  result  throughout  all  the 
animate  world  when  the  male  and  female  reproductive 
elements  of  like  species  are  brought  together  under  favor- 
able conditions ;  and  when  a  woman,  in  whom  Nature  lives 
and  upon  whom  life  depends,  plants  the  seeds  of  a  thorn- 
tree,  she  shall  surely  in  the  plucking  of  the  fruit  be  pricked 
till  she  bleeds,  and  it  will  then  be  too  late  to  repent  her  of 
having  harbored  the  seed  from  which  such  fruit  grows. 
The  unpitying  consequences  which  follow  upon  the  per- 
verted abuse  of  Nature  are  visited  by  a  dreadful  reckoning, 
not  so  much  on  the  man,  who  plays  a  trifling  part  in  re- 
I)roduction,  as  upon  the  mother  and  the  babe. 

Illegitimate  sexual  pleasure  is  iu  no  sense  a  trivial  of- 
fence; for  in  no  possible  way  can  sexual  congress  be  in- 
dulged in  outside  of  wedlock  without  the  participants  either 
committing  the  most  immoral  and  despicable  acts,  or  else 
assuming  the  responsibilities  of  parentage. 


230  HEEEDITY  AND  MORALS. 

Bad  in  the  beginning,  the  crime  of  venery  is  often  ren- 
dered worse  by  the  shedding  of  blood;  and  any  sophist 
who  defends  the  slaughtering  of  the  innocent  child,  at  any 
period  of  its  existence,  is  held  in  the  deepest  contempt  by 
every  member  of  repute  in  the  medical  profession,  and  by 
every  one  who  is  not  so  dull  as  to  be  deceived  by  impotent 
conclusions.  One  must  abhorrently  spurn  such  a  sacrifice 
if  he  will  but  make  the  effort  to  inform  himself  in  regard 
to  the  wonderful  truths  of  embryonic  development  which 
the  following  pages  attempt  to  exjjlain  clearly.  Man  is 
not  like  the  tree,  which  after  the  growth  of  hundreds  of 
years  at  last  falls  as  a  mere  log;  but,  as  we  believe,  his 
physical  nature  is  inseparably  correlated  with  the  moral, 
so  that  he  hopes  to  ascend  to  a  higher  and  a  nobler  life, 
coming  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  throne  of  the  Creator; 
and  while  he  is  yet  a  dumb  and  unseen  embryo,  under- 
going a  secret  growth,  he  is  by  degrees  being  shaped  and 
perfected  for  the  hopes  of  the  loftiest  estate  of  smj  created 
thing  of  which  we  have  knowledge. 

That  this  hope  should  be  blighted,  and  that  the  precari- 
ous life  of  the  defenceless  human  being  should  be  snapped 
off  by  a  violent  expulsion  from  its  natural  place  of  lodg- 
ment, is  an  outrage  which  disappointed  Nature  punishes 
by  calamities  to  the  mother,  both  physical  and  moral,  of 
the  most  threatening  kind.  We  rightly  insist  that  our 
bodies  are  temples  of  the  living  God;  but  must  we  not 
fear  that  a  blighted  foetus  is  but  a  ruin  of  a  few  columns 
whose  evolution  has  been  ruthlessly  cursed  bj^  the  trans- 
gressions of  its  parents? 

If  the  murderous,  fatal  hour  come  to  it  untimely,  there 
is  registered  in  heaven  a  crime  of  the  same  magnitude  as 
if  its  death  were  brought  about  after  its  birth. 

"WTien  some  of  us  as  children  asked  our  nurses  whence 
we  came  and  how  we  got  here,  they  told  us  that  "  we 
dropped  down  from  the  clouds." 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  231 

That  seemed  wonderfully  beautiful— to  rest  content  in 
the  belief  that  we  had  been  gently  deposited  on  this  earth 
from  some  bower  in  the  deep  blue  vault  of  heaven !  But 
when  those  of  us  who  were  so  j)rivileged  came  to  the  time 
when  we  began  the  study  of  biology,  including  compara- 
tive anatomj'-,  botany  and  zoology,  along  with  human  anat- 
omy and  embryology,  then  our  souls  burned  within  us  at 
the  new  wonders  of  life ;  and  we  have  ever  since  continued 
to  wonder  at  and  to  admire  the  provisions  of  Nature  for 
the  propagation  of  the  species. 

Modern  microscoi)ical  ai^pliances  have  rendered  it  pos- 
sible for  us  to  observe  the  marvellous  evolution  of  a  com- 
plete and  highly  complicated  organism  from  a  single  germ 
of  undifferentiated  protoplasm;  and  proof  of  the  cell- 
theory  plainly  shows  us  that  the  growth  of  the  earliest 
embryo  is  precisely  of  the  same  nature  as  the  growth  of 
the  child  and  youth. 

It  is  of  paramount  importance  for  the  reader  to  under- 
stand the  significance  of  the  sexual  act,  what  the  fcetus  is, 
and  the  main  facts  in  its  development.  The  subject  of 
conception  and  foetal  development  is  one  which  would  over- 
whelm the  average  person  were  he  left  to  consult  the  tech- 
nical works  on  that  subject;  and  yet  the  essential  points 
of  this  advanced  branch  of  anatomy  may  be  chronologi- 
cally presented  in  a  way  quite  intelligible  to  the  careful 
reader. 

It  will  well  repay  one  to  devote  some  considerable  atten- 
tion to  tlie  following  i:)ages  bearing  on  the  nature  of  our 
development;  and  while  all  may  not  be  perfectly  under- 
stood upon  the  first  reading,  and  while  the  terms,  derived 
from  the  Greek  and  Latin,  may  seem  perplexing,  yet  the 
essential  points  will  clearly  appear.  These  facts  every 
intelligent  man  should  of  course  know. 

Hermaphroditism. — As  pointed  out  heretofore,  all  sexual 
animals  primitively  show  the  characteristics  of  both  gen- 
ders by  actually  possessing  the  male  and  female  genital 


232  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

glands,  whicli  ultimately  assume,  normally,  the  special 
characters  of  one  or  the  other  sex. 

A  true  hermaphrodite  is  an  animal  which  has  both  an 
ovary  and  a  testis,  i.e.,  the  male  and  female  genital  glands; 
and  in  it  reproduction  can  take  place  without  conjunction 
with  another  animal  of  its  own  species. 

There  are  some  true  hermaphroditic  animals;  such  is 
often  the  case  among  mollusks  and  worms.  Thus  the  snail 
has  an  ovofesfis  which  has  the  functions  of  an  ovary  and  of 
a  testicle,  producing  ova  and  spermatozoa;  and  several  va- 
rieties of  tape-worms,  which  infest  the  alimentary  tracts  of 
man,  the  ox  and  the  dog,  are  true  hermaphrodites.  Earth- 
worms, though  they  copulate,  are  yet  true  hermaphrodites, 
each  impregnating  the  other  during  the  act  of  conjunction. 
Both  the  male  and  female  germ-glands  exist  in  these  ani- 
mals ;  and  other  animals,  again,  are  at  one  time  female  and 
at  another  male.  Thus  in  some  of  the  Tarhellaria,  or  cili- 
ated worms — some  of  microscopic  size,  some  several  inches 
in  length — the  individual  first  attains  to  maturity  as  a 
male,  and  later  as  a  female,  and  during  coj^ulation  among 
these  animals,  one  is  practically  a  male  and  the  other  a 
female,  though  later  on  the  role  may  be  reversed. 

As  anomalies  among  the  vertebrate  animals,  including 
man,  there  are  authentic  instances  of  one  individual  having 
a  testicle  on  one  side  and  an  ovary  on  the  other,  as  well  as 
the  other  imperfectly  developed  sexual  characteristics  of 
either  sex.  These  monstrosities  are  however,  spurious 
hermaphrodites,  being  in  reality  of  one  sex  or  the  other, 
though  imperfectly  developed  as  to  either. 

The  occasional  union  of  the  two  sexes  in  the  same  human 
individual  is  only  apparent,  and  so-called  human  herma- 
phrodites exhibit  the  psycho-sexual  peculiarities  of  only 
one  sex.  Psychically  and  functionally  there  is  no  human 
hermapliroditism.  For  our  procreation,  accordingly,  it  is 
essential  tliat  there  shall  be  a  union,  or  "marriage,"  of  the 
male  and  female  elements  of  generation  provided  by  two 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  233 

individuals  of  opposite  sexes.  The  male  element  is  called 
the  spennatozoo)i,  or  sijermatorjjiil ,  and  the  female  element 
the  ovum,  or  egg ;  the  special  function  of  the  former  being 
io  fertilize,  or  impregnate,  the  latter,  and  from  the  conjunc- 
tion of  these  male  and  female  reproductive  elements  the 
embryo  is  conceived,  succeeding  generations  of  descendent 
cells  being  produced  which  ultimately  bring  it  to  full  de- 
velopment. 

The  Essential  3Iale  Reproductive  Element.- — The  semen 
is  a  thick,  starchy  fluid,  of  a  whitish  color  and  peculiar 
odor.  The  amount  discharged  at  each  ejaculation  varies 
from  a  quarter  of  a  teaspoonful  to  two  teaspoonfuls,  and 
it  consists  of  the  combined  secretions  of  the  testicles  and 
the  accessory  generative  glands— the  j^rostofe  and  Conyers 
glands,  and  the  secretions  of  the  seminal  vesicles  and  vasa 
deferentia.  The  fluid  itself  is  merely  a  vehicle  for  the  sper- 
matozoids  or  essential  male  fertilizing  elements.  Impotent 
men  may  discharge  the  normal  amount  of  fluid,  in  which, 
however,  no  spermatozoa  exist. 

In  a  single  drop  of  semen  there  are  countless  thousands 
of  spermatozoa,  only  one  of  which  is  concerned  in  the  im- 
pregnation of  the  equivalent  female  reproductive  element. 
These  microscopic  sperm-cells  give  to  the  seminal  fluid 
its  vital  characteristic ;  and  millions  are  j)i'esent  in  each 
discharge,  in  order  to  insure  the  impregnating  or  ferti- 
lizing of  the  ovum  provided  by  the  female. 

Nature  is  everywhere  lavish  with  the  reproductive  ele- 
ments of  the  two  sexes  in  order  to  insure  fertilization,  a 
familiar  example  of  which  is  to  be  observed  in  the  clouds  of 
pollen— the  male  fecundating  element  in  flowering  plants 
■ — which  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  are  borne  by  the 
breezes  far  and  wide,  the  vast  majority  of  the  pollen-grains 
of  course  never  reaching  the  ovules,  the  female  fertilizable 
cells. 

The  male  fertilizing  elements  enormously  exceed  in 
number  the  female  fertilizable  elements,  and  in  the  human 


234  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

race,  with  which  we  are  here  concerned,  there  are  countless 
thousands  of  male  sperm-cells  to  one  ovum ;  for  the  female 
supplies  only  one  ovum  at  each  menstrual  period,  except 
in  certain  exceptional  cases  of  twin-  or  triplet-births,  when 
two  or  three  ova  are  supplied. 

Each  spermatozoid  is  an  independent  protoplasmic  body, 
or  cell,  which  under  the  microscope  looks  remarkably  like 
a  tadpole. 

The  length  of  each  spermatozoid  is  from  -g-^  to  -^j  of 


(From  Century  Dictionary 
under  Spermatozoon. ) 


Fig.  I. — A,  Two  spermatozoa  show-  Fig.  II.— Spermatozoids,  lower  power 

ing  broad  view  magnified  600  diameters.        of  microscope. 
Bf  profile  view. 

an  inch.     Each  one  of  them  is  described  as  having  a  head, 
an  intermediate  segment,  and  a  tail. 

Under  the  microscope  the  seminal  fluid  is  seen  to  be 
alive  with  these  spermatozoa,  which  actively  swim  in  it, 
each  individual  element  executing  spontaneous  and  power- 
ful vibratile  or  lashing  movements,  and  coUectivel}'  they 
appear  like  "a  shoal  of  microscopic  fishes,"  each  one  seek- 
ing to  impregnate  the  ovum,  if  it  be  present,  and  any  one 
by  chance  or  fate  succeeding.  The  consummation  of  sexual 
intercourse,  impregnation,  is  ended  when  one  of  these 
countless  spermatozoids  unites  with  an  o\Tim.  All  the 
acts  of  courtship,    marriage  and  sexual   intercourse  are 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  235 

subservient  to  this  one  microscopical  phenomenon  of  the 
"  marriage"  or  fusion  of  the  male  and  female  elements — 
for  Nature  has  then  given  origin  to  a.  positive  entity  be- 
longing to  a  new  individual. 

The  tail  of  each  spermatozoitl  executes  rapid  undulatory 
movements,  which  drive  it  forward  head-first  in  opposition 
to  the  force  of  gravity  and  the  flow  of  the  secretions  in  the 
female ;  and  the  late  Dr.  Marion  Sims  said  that  by  virtue 
of  their  own  motion  they  would  travel  from  the  entrance  of 
the  vagina  to  the  womb  in  three  hours. 

In  men  who  had  been  executed  spermatozoids  have  been 
found  alive,  seventy  and  even  eighty-two  hours  after  death ; 
in  the  bull  six  days  after  it  was  killed ;  in  the  oviducts  of 
bitches  and  rabbits  seven  to  eight  days ;  in  the  cow  six  days 
after  copulation;  in  the  human  female  they  were  found 
endowed  with  active  movements  in  the  cervical  canal,  by 
Hausmann,  seven  days  and  a  half,  and  by  Perry  eight 
days  after  coition.  In  the  female  bat  they  retain  their 
fecundating  jiower  for  many  months,  and  in  the  queen  bee 
for  more  than  three  years.  The  spermatozoids  of  a  frog 
D^y  be  frozen  four  times  in  succession  without  killing 
them.  They  will  live  for  seventy  days  when  placed  in  the 
abdominal  cavity  of  another  frog. "  ' 

The  semen  is  the  most  highly  vitalized  fluid  in  the  body 
of  the  male ;  and  it  is  amazing  to  reflect  that  these  inde- 
pendently active  cells,  or  spermatozoa,  remain  alive,  as 
cited  above,  for  seventy  or  even  eighty -two  hours  after 
every  other  tissue  in  a  man  is  dead ! 

But  when  the\^  have  been  planted  on  favorable  soil,  such  as 
the  warm,  moist  mucous  membrane  of  the  female  genitalia, 
they  have  been  actually  observed  to  retain  their  life  and  func- 
tional activities  for  upward  of  eight  days,  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  tliej^  remain  active  even  longer  than  this. 

The  profound  chemistry  of  Nature  has  elaborated  no 
other  fluid  which  can  compare  in  vitality  and  importance 
•Parvin,  "Science  and  Art  of  Obstetrics,"  p.  108, 


236  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS.  , 

with  the  semen,  the  sole  design  of  which  secretion  is  for 
l^rocreation. 

The  spermatozoa  are  developed  in  the  testicles — two  oval 
glands,  suspended  in  the  loose  scrotum  by  the  spermatic 
cords  ;  besides  forming  spermatozoa  they  also  secrete  some 
of  the  other  fluid  elements  of  the  semen.  Each  testicle 
contains  a  great  number  of  minute  tubules — the  tuhuli 
seminiferi — in  which  are  epithelial  cells,  called  spermato- 
hlasts,  which  undergo  a  series  of  changes  and  become  con- 
verted into  spermatozoa.  From  each  testicle  the  vas 
deferens,  or  execretory  duct,  carries  the  secretions  to  two 
pouches  on  the  base  of  the  bladder— the  vesicidm  semincdes — 
which  serve  as  reservoirs  for  the  semen,  and  also  secrete  a 
fluid  of  thinner  consistence,  which  is  added  to  the  secre- 
tions from  the  testicles.  These  vesicidce  semincdes  dis- 
charge their  contents  i^eriodically,  or  under  stimulation, 
into  the  urethra  by  means  of  the  two  ejaculatory  ducts. 
There  are  many  men  who  entertain  the  erroneous  idea  that 
a  woman  is  barren  for  twent}'  days  of  every  month ;  but 
when  one  thinks  to  select  the  time  of  intercourse  with  a 
woman  at  a  period  when  he  supposes  she  cannot  be  im- 
pregnated, he  must  remember  that  his  spermatozoa  stay 
alive  in  her  for  more  than  a  week.  Practically  there  is  «o 
time  during  a  woman's  sexual  life  when  she  may  not  be 
impregnated.  The  conservation  and  proj^er  expenditure 
of  this  fluid,  upon  which  the  phenomena  of  life  depends, 
give  to  man  his  moral  and  physical  force,  while  its  squan- 
dering and  abuse  in  any  way  whatsoever  outside  of  mar- 
ried life  is  a  perversion  to  be  deeply  ashamed  of,  and  every 
lusting  man  at  least  courts,  if  he  does  not  actually  acquire, 
repulsive  disease  and  moral  degradation,  and  furthermore, 
he  makes  himself  exceedingly  liable  to  be  encumbered  with 
the  moral  obligations  of  paternity,  from  which  the  weak 
excuse  of  "jjater  incertus"  can  hardly  free  him. 

Physiology  of  Beproduction  and  Develo^jment  in  the  Fe- 
male.— The  most  profound  attribute  of  organized  beings 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  237 

is  the  distinctiou  of  sex — the  essential  factor  being  the 
generation  of  sj^jermatozoa  by  the  male  and  of  ova  by  the 
female. 

Reproduction  can  occur  only  when  the  female  element  is 
fertilized  bj^  the  male  element ;  and  this  is  of  course  effected 
b}^  the  act  of  copulation,  which,  while  being  the  normal 
way,  is  by  no  means  essential  —for  authentic  instances  are 
recorded  where  a  virgin  has  been  imijregnated  by  using  a 
bathtub  after  a  masturbator  had  defiled  it,  or  after  contact 
with  clothes  or  sheets  which  had  been  "  wet"  with  semen. ' 

The  essential  jjoint  is  that  the  male  and  female  elements 
must  in  some  way  meet  within  the  mother's  body,  where 
the  "  soil"  is  favorable  for  the  growth  of  the  germ-cell. 

In  most  fishes  the  ova  are  impregnated  externally  to  the 
body  of  the  mother.  Thus  the  female  "roe,''  or  "spawn," 
of  many  fish— e.(/.,  the  codfish — contains  many  millions 
of  eggs  which  are  "  spawned"  into  the  water  and  fecundated 
by  the  " utilt,''  or  spermatic  secretion  of  the  male,  without 
the  act  of  copulation,  the  meeting  of  the  male  and  female 
reproductive  elements  being  left  to  chance.  In  the  process 
of  fish-culture  the  spawn  and  the  milt  are  artificially  stripped 
out  of  the  female  and  male  fish,  and  mixed  together  in  a 
specially  constructed  jar  filled  with  water,  when  in  the 
course  of  time  myriads  of  fish  are  hatched. 

Among  frogs  the  male  embraces  the  female,  and  when  the 
latter  discharges  ova,  the  male  ejects  sperm  on  them. 

So  also,  veterinarians,  when  they  have  difficulty  in  mat- 
ing animals,  sometimes  inject  semen  with  a  sj-ringe  into 
the  female  genitalia.  A  royal  scion  of  France  is  reputed 
to  have  owed  his  existence  to  the  application  of  this  device, 
while  times  without  number  this  procedure  has  been  suc- 
cessfully followed  in  women  hitherto  sterile.' 

A  woman  at  each  menstrual  period  experiences  a  sort  of 

'  For  numerous  allied  cases,  vide  "  Anomalies  and  Curiosities  of 
Medicine, "  Gould  and  Pyle,  pp.  40^5. 

'  Vide  Gould  and  Pyle,  loe.  cit. ,  p.  40  ef  seq. 


238  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

"  mimic  labor,"  discliarging  a  sanguiueons  fluid  vnth  which 
she  "  lays  a  little  egg" — the  ripe  ovum. 

"  The  menstrual  and  gravidital  changes  follow  the  same 
C3'cle,  and  differ  from  one  another  essentially  only  in  two 
points:  1,  the  time  occupied,  and  2,  the  extent  of  the 
changes.  In  fact  the  alterations,  though  of  the  same-  char- 
acter, are  greater  in  extent  and  occupy  a  longer  jjeriod  dur- 
ing gestation  than  during  menstruation.  These  considera- 
tions force  us  to  the  conclusion  that  the  gravid  uterus  is 
passing  through  the  menstrual  cycle  prolonged  and  intensi- 
fied. The  function  of  gestation  is  a  direct  modification  of 
the  function  of  menstruation,  and  the  two  are  physiologi- 
cally homologous."  ' 

If  one  of  her  ova  be  fertilized  by  a  spermatozoid,  there  is 
at  once  initiated  in  the  woman  a  series  of  astonishingly 
pronounced  and  rapid  changes,  which  continue  throughout 
the  whole  iDeriod  of  gestation  and  lactation.  Within  the 
short  space  of  nine  months,  corresponding  to  the  growth 
of  the  embryo,  there  is  an  enormous  increase  in  the  size 
and  poM'er  of  the  uterus,  so  that  it  is  both  adapted  to  give 
lodgement  to  a  full-sized  babe,  and  to  expel  it  by  tremendous 
contractions  through  the  "  birth-i^assages"  at  the  termina- 
tion of  pregnancy. 

While  performing  the  functions  of  gestation  and  suck- 
ling, she  normally  ceases  to  menstruate,  and  all  her  pri- 
mary and  secondary  sexual  organs  undergo  marked  changes, 
while  her  heart  and  blood-vessels  are  rendered  more 
powerful,  for  the  increased  work  which  is  demanded  of 
them. 

The  secretion  of  semen  is  largelj^  controlled  by  the  mental 
condition  of  the  male,  and  by  his  surroundings  and  habits ; 
and  he  can  perform  the  sexual  act  at  one  season  as  well  as 
another,  or  remain  absolutely  continent  indefinitely  with- 
out impairing  his  procreative  ability. 

Most  of  the  lower  animals  have  a  ''rutting  season"  or  a 
'  "  Human  Embryology, "  Minot,  p.  25. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  28i) 

time  of  periodical  sexual  excitement,  being  without  desire 
at  other  times ;  but  man  is  entirely  independent  of  this,  and 
maintains  the  power  to  found  his  family  in  accordance  with 
reason  and  i)rudence  at  any  time  during  his  sexual  life. 

But  Nature  has  not  ventured  to  subordinate  the  control 
of  the  sexual  functions  of  the  woman  to  her  will,  and  so 
once  every  lunar  month  she  involuntarily  passes  through  a 
series  of  remarkable  transformations  which  are  the  expres- 
sions of  desire  on  the  part  of  Nature  that  she  shall  perpet- 
uate the  species. 

The  female  sexual  apparatus  consists  primarily  of  the 
organs  of  generation,  and  secondarily  of  the  organs  of  lac- 
tation— the  mammary  glands  or  breasts. 

The  vagina  is  the  sexual  passage  which  extends  upward 
from  the  external  genitals  to  the  womb;  it  serves  as  the 
organ  of  copulation  and  is  the  chief  part  of  the  "  birth  pas- 
sage" during  the  delivery  of  the  foetus. 

The  uterus,  or  womb,  is  a  i^ear-shaped,  hollow,  muscular 
organ,  about  three  inches  in  length,  communicating  below 
with  the  vagina  by  the  cervical  canal,  and  receiving  the 
openings  of  the  two  Fallopian  tubes,  at  either  side,  in  its 
upper  portion;  it  is  lined  with  a  thick  mucous  membrane 
which  is  shed  at  each  menstrual  jDeriod,  and  its  cavity 
serves  as  the  resting-place  in  which  the  ovum,  if  impreg- 
nated, is  harbored  and  developed  for  a  period  of  ten  lunar 
months — two  hundred  and  eighty  daj^s — at  the  termina- 
tion of  which  time  it  expels  it  as  a  full-time  child. 

The  Fallopian  tubes,  or  oviducts,  are  two  muscular  canals 
which  extend  in  a  sinuous  wavy  manner  from  either  side 
of  the  uterus  at  its  ui)X)er  part,  outward  toward  the  ova- 
ries. Each  is  from  four  to  five  inches  in  length,  and  they 
are  lined  with  a  thick  mucous  membrane  covered  with 
ciliated  epithelial  cells,  which  by  their  lashing  movements 
create  a  current  toward  the  uterus.  At  their  outer  extremi- 
ties they  are  provided  with  finger-like  processes,  or  fmhr  ice, 
whose  function  is  to  grasj)  the  ovaries  on  either  side  at  the 


240  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

i:)oint  from  whicli  tlie  ripe  ovum  is  about  to  escajje,  and 
tliese  tubes  serve  to  transmit  the  ova  to  the  uterus. 

In  spite  of  the  current  which  is  established  by  the  ciliated 
epithelium  of  the  tubes  toward  the  uterus,  the  spermatozoa, 
bj  their  independent  vibratorv  motions,  force  themselves 
contrar}'  to  it  to  the  extreme  limits  of  the  Fallopian  tubes, 
where  fertilization  of  the  ovum  takes  place. 

The  ovaries  are  a  i^air  of  germ-glands  situated  in  the  pel- 
vic cavity,  one  on  either  side,  at  the  extremities  of  the 
I'allopian  tubes. 

They  are  analogous  to  the  testicles  of  the  male,  since 
they  develop  the  essential  female  reproductive  element,  or 
ovum,  which  when  impregnated  by  a  si:)ermatozoon,  de- 
velops into  a  foetus.  (See  "Female  Genital  Organs  and 
Api:)endages,  Fig.  XL,  page  305.) 

Each  ovary  is  a  flattened  ovoid  hodj  about  one  and  one- 
half  inches  in  length  and  one-half  inch  in  thickness, 
slightly  varying  in  size  at  different  times. 

Each  ovary  contains  upward  of  seventy  thousand  Gh^aajian 
follicles,  in  each  of  which  there  is  an  ovum  or  egg-cell.  The 
ovaries  of  a  child  a  year  old  contain  as  many  Graafian 
follicles  with  their  contained  ova  as  do  those  of  the  fully 
developed  woman ;  but  these  ova  do  not  begin  to  "  ripen" 
until  i)uberty,  and  even  then  only  a  small  minority  of  the 
seventy  thousand  ever  come  to  maturity.  Each  ovum  rests 
in  a  Graafian  follicle,  and  as  a  rule  but  one  of  them  ripens 
monthly.  As  the  Ch'aafiun  follicle  with  its  enclosed  ovum 
develojis,  it  moves  to  the  surface  of  the  ovary  and  produces 
a  protuberance,  which  finally  rujDtures  and  allows  the  ovum 
to  escaj)e  into  the  Fallopian  tubes. 

At  each  menstrual  period,  one  and  sometimes  two  or 
three  ova  of  mature  size  burst  out  from  the  ovary  or  ova- 
ries, and,  if  unimpregnated  b}^  a  spermatozoon,  pass  on 
into  the  uterus  and  are  lost  in  the  menstrual  discharges. 
An  ovum  being  discharged  at  each  menstrual  epoch,  a  wo- 
man may  consequently  conceive  at  any  time  of  lier  sexual 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  241 

life  from  puberty  to  the  menopause,  i.e.,  until  the  final 
cessation  of  her  menstruation.  If  two  or  three  ova  are  dis- 
charged, and  each  imi)regnated,  she  will  bear  twins  or 
triplets,  though  twins,  curiously  enough,  are  sometimes 
developed  from  a  single  ovum. 

This  menstruation  is  a  remarkable  phenomenon,  which 
comes  on  in  cycles,  characterized  not  only  by  a  periodical 
flow  of  blood  from  the  uterine  cavity,  but  also  by  constitu- 
tional disturbances ;  there  is  a  shedding  of  the  superficial 
layers  of  the  mucous  membrance  of  the  uterus,  and  at  each 
of  the  epochs  an  ovum  is  discharged  from  one  or  other  of 
the  ovaries.  It  occurs  in  properly  developed  women,  in 
temperate  climates,  between  the  ages  of  fourteen  and  fort}-- 
four  years,  sometimes  normally  beginning  earlier  or  ending 
later  than  these  figures,  and  being  observed  earlier  in  warm 
and  later  in  cold  climates.' 

Normally  this  phenomenon  occurs  thirteen  times  a  year, 
at  intervals  of  a  lunar  month — twenty-eight  days — and  the 
name  is  taken  from  the  Latin  word  mensis,  "a  month." 
Duriug  all  the  period  of  a  woman's  menstrual  life  the  func^ 
tion  of  menstruation  can,  in  health,  be  interrupted  only  by 
pregnancy  and  suckling,  so  that  it  has  been  quaintly  said 
that  "  woman  only  escapes  being  sick  twelve  times  a  year  by 
having  an  illness — pregnancy — which  lasts  nine  months." 

The  general  public,  in  accordance  with  their  usual  erro- 
neous opinions  about  physiological  subjects,  have  an  idea 
that  intercourse  during  the  first  week  after  a  menstrual 
period  is  liable  to  be  followed  by  conception,  but  that  at 
other  times  there  is  no  danger  of  it. 

"  Experience  has  shown,  however,  that  there  is  no  single 
day  in  the  intermenstrual  period  in  which  conception  may 
not  occur.  Jewish  women  indeed,  who  are  forbidden 
sexual  intercourse  by  the  Mosaic  law  during  menstruation 
and  the  seven  days  following,  are  proverbially  fruitful."^ 

'Vide  Hart  and  Barbour's  "Gynaecology." 
'Lusk,  "Science  and  Art  of  Midwifery,"  p.  116. 

16 


242  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

After  an  intercourse  occuring  just  before  a  menstrual 
period,  one  might  suppose  that  the  semen  and  the  ovum 
would  be  expelled  when  the  flow  began,  but  the  spermatozoa 
pass  into  the  distal,  or  remote,  extremities  of  the  Fallopian 
tubes  within  a  few  hours  after  intercourse,  and^ — the  Fallo- 
pian tubes  not  actively  sharing  in  the  phenomena  of  men- 
struation— these  spermatozoids,  which  continue  to  possess 
life  for  upward  of  eight  to  ten  days,  may  be  retained  and 
impregnate  the  ovum  which  is  discharged  at  the  menstrual 
period  immediately^  following. 

The  law  of  reproduction  is  so  strongly  impressed  on  all 
animate  Nature  that  when  a  healthy  male  and  a  healthy 
female  have  sexual  congress  the  chances  of  inseminaiion  are 
very  great  indeed. 

Conception  and  Development  of  the  Foetus. — By  concep- 
tion is  meant  the  animation  of  the  female  reproductive  ele- 
ment by  the  male  reproductive  element  so  that  an  embryo 
is  formed. 

The  o\n^im  represents  one  cell  and  the  spermatozoid  one 
cell,  and  when  they  become  fused  in  the  process  of  concep- 
tion there  results  one  cell — the  impregnated  ovum  which 
is  now  the  germ  of  an  embryo.  "  The  earlier  the  stage  the 
fewer  the  cells,  until  we  reach  the  condition  when  there  are 
but  few  cells,  then  two,  and  finally  one  only.  This  cell  is 
the  impregnated  ovum,  the  beginning  of  all  develoj^ment, 
Irat  is  itself  formed  of  two  separate  parts,  very  different  in 
their  origin  and  constitution,  namely,  the  egg-cell  or  ovum 
and  the  spermatozoon,  whose  union  is  the  act  of  impreg- 
nation— the  beginning  of  a  new  existence."  ' 

Our  lives,  then,  have  their  origin  from  two  cells  of  in- 
tensely vitalized  protoplasm  which  unite  to  form  a  single 
cell.  The  saying  of  Linufeus,  "  Omnevivum  ex  ovo,"  is  now 
known  to  be  true,  for  all  animal  life  springs  from  a  cell  which 
has  all  the  true  characteristics  of  an  egg.  The  ova  of  all 
animals  higher  in  the  scale  of  life  than  the  protozoa,  i.e., 
'  Minot,  "Human  Embryology,"  p.  35. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  243 

from  the  Porifera,  or  sponges,  up  tlirougli  the  animal 
kingdom,  inchiding  man,  are  scarcely  distinguishable 
from  one  another  in  their  essential  characteristics  and 
their  structure,  though  varying  much  in  size  in  the  differ- 
ent animals. 

The  ovum,  like  most  cells,  is  usually  of  microscopic  size, 
though  sometimes  it  is  of  enormous  bulk,  as  in  the  bird- 
tribe,  ostrich's  eggs  averaging  three  pounds  in  weight,  and 
holding  about  three  pints.  An  ostrich  egg  is  an  example 
of  one  of  the  largest  cells  known  to  physiologists,  but 
morphologically  it  dilfers  in  no  degree  from  the  human 
ovum.  The  largest  known  eggs  are  those  of  the  gigantic 
fossil  bird  of  Madagascar,  Ai!pyornis  maximus,  being  twelve 
to  fourteen  inches  in  length,  six  times  the  bulk  of  an 
ostrich's  egg,  and  equivalent  to  twelve  dozen  hen's  eggs. 
And  yet  these  eggs  are  single  cells ! 

Other  examples  of  enormous  cells  are  the  eggs  of  all 
birds,  of  most  fish,  of  some  batrachians,  and  most  reptiles. 
In  some  animals  the  ovum  is  encased  in  a  hard,  chalky 
egg-shell,  while  in  others  it  is  protected  by  a  more  or  less 
tough  envelope. 

But  yet  these  ova  are  all  morphologically  similar;  in 
some  of  them  there  is  an  enormous  adventitious  addition 
of  the  albuminous  part,  or  "  white"  of  the  egg,  which  serves 
to  nourish  the  developing  embryo,  while  the  egg-shell  is 
merely  a  protective  envelope  of  calcareous  matter  derived 
during  the  passage  of  the  ovum  down  the  oviduct  or  Fallo- 
pian tiibe  of  the  bird. 

A  hen,  like  a  woman,  may  "  lay"  an  egg  which  is  inca- 
pable of  developing  an  embryo,  for  this  is  only  i^ossible  if 
the  ovum  has  been  fertilized  b}^  a  spermatozoon. 

At  each  menstrual  period,  then,  a  woman  discharges  one 
of  these  ova,  or  eggs,  similar  in  every  detail  morphologi- 
cally to  the  ova  of  all  other  metazoic  animals,  i.  e. ,  all  animals 
higher  in  the  scale  of  life  than  the  protozoa,  from  sponges 
up— and   unless  it  is  vivified  by  the  male  cell  it  is  soon 


244  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

discharged  from  her  body,  successive  ova  continually  ripen- 
ing, and  continuously  preparing  themselves,  as  it  were,  for 
a  possible  fecundation.  All  animals  which  have  feminine 
sex  "lay"  eggs,  some  being  hatched  outside  the  body, 
oviparous ;  some  hatching  within  the  mother's  body  with- 
out having  vascular  connection  with  the  parent,  ovovivipa- 
rous  ;  and  others,  viviparous,  establishing  a  vital  connection 
within  the  mother  by  means  of  a  placenta  and  umbilical 
cord. 

All  mammals  are  viviparous  with  the  single  exception  of 
the  curious  Ornifhorhijnchus,  or  "  duck-billed  mole"  of  Aus- 
tralia, whicli  lays  eggs  like  the  birds  and  is  oviparous. 

Most  eggs  are  si)lierical  in  shape,  but  some  are  cylin- 
drical ;  some  are  ovoid,  as  in  birds ;  while  others  are  coni- 
cal or  elliptical. 

With  the  exception  of  the  anomalous  Ornithorhynchus,  the 
ova  of  mammals  are  exceedingly  minute  sj)herical  cells ; 
but  it  must  be  distinctly  remembered  that  they  are  struc- 
turalh"  the  same  as  all  other  eggs,  the  "white"  and  the 
"egg-shell"  of  the  latter  being  merely  modifications  of 
homologous  parts  in  the  former  which  serve  for  the  nutri- 
tion and  protection  of  the  embryo. 

The  human  ovum  has  thus  been  compared  with  the  ova 
of  other  metazoic  animals,  and  especially  to  the  ova  of 
birds,  because  of  the  familiar  acquaintance  with  the  latter, 
and  because  they  are  structually  identical. 

The  eggs  of  hens  occasionalh'  do  not  have  this  "egg- 
pod,"  or  "egg-shell";  nor  do  those  of  the  turtle,  nor  the 
"roe"  of  fish — these  being  encased  in  tough,  elastic  "egg- 
cases"  ;  and  the  human  ovum  also  has  a  ver}^  elastic  "  egg- 
case"  which  is  called  the  zona  pellucida. 

To  one  unfamiliar  Avith  physiology  the  word  "cell'''  is 
almost  meaningless,  but  for  our  present  purpose  some 
knowledge  of  it  is  essential. 

Not  to  be  misleading,  it  must  be  pointed  out  that  almost 
all  cells  are  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  and  the  enormous 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION. 


245 


eggs  of  birds,  tliougli  single  cells  in  every  resi^ect,  are  only 
wonderful  and  exceptional  examples  of  modification  for  a 
particular  design.  Tlie  body  of  a  man  contains  untold 
millions  of  cells,  all  practically  microscopic  in  size  and 
witli  a  great  divergence  of  function ;  but  in  the  beginning, 
when  the  germ  was  conceived,  his  existence  sprang  from  a 
single  nucleated  cell. 

The  fundamental  type  of  a  cell  is  a  minute  mass  of 
granular  protoplasm  having  a  cell-wall  which  limits  it,  and 
a  nucleus  and  nucleolus, 
though  the  cell-walls  and 
nuclei  are  not  essential  con-  '^ 
stituents  of  all  cells. 

Cells  are  modified  in  va- 
rious waj'S  to  perform  the 
different  functions  of  nutri- 
tion, sensation,  automatic 
and     spontaneous     motion,      ^     „^    ^^ 

■^  ,  '        FxG.  III.— Human  ovum,  magnifled  350 

and    reproduction,  each    cell    diameters.     Represents  a  typical  cell.     A, 

being  an  independent  organ-  ^''^"^f  P<^otop\^^m  (viteiius  or  yoik); 

°       _  '-  _  '^  B,  cell-wall  or  zona  pellueida;  C,  nucleus 

ism    which    enters     into     the    with  nucleolus,  called  also  germinal  ves- 

formation  of  tissue  bv  aSSO-    Iff  ^f^  germlual   spot.     (From  Gray's 

Anatomy.    ) 

elation    with     other     cells. 

Thus  we  have  bone-cells,  blood-cells,  lymph-cells,  fat-cells, 
cartilage-cells,  muscle-cells,  nerve-cells,  mucus-cells,  etc., 
and  in  addition  to  these  the  cells  which  are  concerned  in 
reproduction,  e.g.,  the  ova  and  spermatozoa. 

Structurally  or  morphologically,  the  ovum  is  similar  to 
other  cells;  but  physiologically  it  is  vastly  different,  since 
it  is  capable,  if  impregnated,  of  developing  an  organism 
which  is  the  counterpart  of  the  parent. 

From  this  semi-fluid,  almost  homogeneous  cell  which 
constitutes  the  ovum  there  are  developed  all  the  myriads  of 
cells  of  the  body.  The  higher  we  ascend  in  the  scale  of  life 
the  smaller  the  ova  become,  until  in  th^  human  female  this 
minute  "  egg, "  or  ovum,  measures  only  y^  in.  in  diameter. 


246  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

The  ovum  discharged  at  each  menstrual  period,  being 
incapable  of  locomotion  like  that  of  the  spermatozoa,  is 
directed  by  the  Fallopian  tube,  on  the  side  corresponding 
to  the  ovary  from  which  it  came,  into  the  uterus. 

The  Jimhi'ice,  or  finger-like  processes  of  the  Fallopian  tube, 
grasp  the  ovary  at  the  point  where  the  rupture  of  the  ovi- 
sac, or  Graafian  follicle,  is  about  to  occur,  and  when  the 
ovum  is  received  into  one  of  the  tubes  it  is  passed  along 
toward  the  uterus,  i^artly  by  the  current  established  by 
the  ciliated  epithelium  lining  the  tube,  and  partly  by  the 
peristaltic  movements  of  the  ducts  on  either  side. 

The  ovum  is  probably  almost  alwaj^s  impregnated  by  a 
spermatozoid  not  in  the  uterus,  but  in  the  distal,  or  outer 
part  of  one  of  the  Fallopian  tubes,  one-third  to  one-half 
way  down  from  the  fimbriated  extremity  to  the  uterus,  it 
being  remembered  that  the  spermatozoa  reach  these  parts 
of  the  Falloi)ian  tubes  by  their  own  independent  active 
movements. 

In  the  ovum  discharged  once  in  every  lunar  month 
certain  important  changes  occur  independently  of  impreg- 
nation, so  that  each  ripe  ovum  is  prepared  to  meet  a  sper- 
matozoid whether  the  latter  be  there  or  not. 

The  germinal  vesicle  moves  to  the  surface  of  the  ovum, 
disappears  from  view,  and  in  its  place  two  polar  globules 
appear,  while  a  portion  of  the  original  germinal  vesicle 
moves  back  toward  the  centre  of  the  ovum  to  form  the 
female  pronucleus.  The  object  of  the  jjolar,  or  directing 
globules,  is  to  facilitate  the  entrance  of  a  spermatozoid, 
while  the  female  pronucleus  is  an  indication  that  the  ovum 
is  ready  for  imjoregnation. 

The  female  pronucleus  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  part  of  the 
original  germinal  vesicle,  and  it  is  now  adapted  to  blend 
itself  with  the  head  of  a  spermatozoid,  which,  if  it  should 
happen  to  fuse  with  the  o-^n^im,  buries  its  head  and  inter- 
mediate segment  in  the  yolk  substance  so  as  to  constitute 
the  germ  of  an  embryo. 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  247 

Especially  bear  in  mind  tliat  these  changes,  which  result 
in  the  formation  of  the  female  pronucleus,  occur  in  the  ovum, 
whether  it  be  impregnated  or  not. 

If  unimpreguated  it  passes  off  with  the  menstrual  dis- 
charges; but  if  fertilized  it  plants  itself  on  the  mucous 
membrane  of  the  uterus  to  develop  myriads  of  cells,  which 
become  differentiated  and  si)ecialized  in  the  fabric  of  a 
human  being. 

Out  of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  spermatozoa  which  may 
have  found  their  way  up  to  the  distal  extremities  of  the 
Fallopian  tubes,  only  one  is  concerned  in  the  process  of 
fecundation,  the  other  less  fortunate  ones  becoming  no 
more  than  refuse.  All  have  been  trj'ing,  as  it  were,  to 
force  their  heads  through  the  egg-pod,  or  zona  pellucida, 
of  the  ovum,  but  only  the  one  succeeds. 

The  fecundating  part  of  each  spermatozoid  is  its  head 
and  intermediate  segment,  the  tail  being  designed  solely 
as  a  locomotor  apparatus  to  j)ropel  it  to  its  destination  and 
enable  it  to  penetrate  the  walls  of  the  ovum.'  This  zona 
pellucida  of  the  ovum  which  the  spermatozoon  is  reciuired 
to  penetrate  is  analogous  to  the  thin  white  "  skin"  envelop- 
ing a  hen's  egg,  which  is  readily  seen  by  cracking  off  the 
shell  from  a  hard-boiled  egg,  but,  of  course,  in  the  human 
ovum  it  is  much  more  delicate. 

The  ripe  ovum  having  prepared  itself  for  impregnation 
by  the  formation  of  i\\e  female  pronucleus  and  the  polar  or 
directing  globule,  the  head  of  the  favored  spermatozoid  here 
finds  a  spot  in  the  cell  wall  of  the  ovum  which  has  been 
thinned  out  and  weakened,  and  thus  it  is  forced  within  by 
the  lashing  movements  of  its  tail. 

This  conical  projection  of  the  ovum,  the  polar  or  directing 
globule,  after  the  head  and  intermediate  segment  of  the  sper- 
matozoon have  entered,  contracts  and  cuts  off  the  latter 's 
tail,  which,  having  performed  its  function,  is  now  useless. 

'  Some  embryologists  maintain  that  only  the  head  of  the  spermato- 
zoon is  tlie  fecundating  part, 


248 


HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 


Tlie  head  and  intermediate  segment  of  tlie  spermatozoid, 
being  now  buried  in  tlie  yolk  of  the  ovum,  become  sur- 
rounded with  a  radiate  formation  of  the  granular  proto- 
plasm, which  appears  like  a  star,  and  their  metamorphosis 
results  in  what  is  called  the  male  pronucleus,  which  fuses 
with  the  female  pronucleus,  and  the  two  together  form  the 
neiu  nucleus  of  the  fertilized  ovum,  in  which  are  initiated 
all  the  activities  which  finally  result  in  the  development  of 


Fig.  IV. 


Fig.  V. 


"Small  Portions  op  the  Ovum  op  Asterias  Glactalis." — Fig.  IV.,  a  promi. 
nence  is  seen  rising  from  the  surface  of  the  ovum  toward  tlie  nearest  spermato- 
zo()n.  Fig.  V.,  the  prominence  and  spermatozoon  have  met.  (From  Balfour's 
"Comparative  Embryolojry, "  p.  65.) 

a  human  being.  This  impregnated  ovum,  though  yoi  a 
single  cell,  is  entirely  different  from  the  simple  ovum. 

Now  a  new  human  life  has  sprung  into  existence,  and 
this  impregnated  ovum  is  the  starting-point  in  each  indi- 
vidual's life  history. 

Such  work  seems  to  be  indicative  of  superhuman  power 
indeed,  but  we  do  not  call  it  a  miracle  simply  because  it 
violates  none  of  Nature's  laws,  and  is  so  frequently-  re- 
peated ;  and  yet  from  its  infinitude  of  repetition  through- 
out Nature,  these  wonderful  manifestations  would  seem  to 
proclaim  that  there  is  a  Creator  in  the  Universe  far  more 
convincingly  than  if  the  phenomena  had  only  been  observed 
once  and  labelled  a  "miracle." 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION. 


249 


This  single  cell  has,  witliiu  tlie  sliort  space  of  a  few- 
hours,  become  an  exceedingly  interesting  new  human  in- 
dividual ;  and  we  must  insist  that  if  a  man  wall  take  the 
pains  to  inform  himself  on  the  rudiments  of  embryology, 
he  cannot  run  the  risk  of  allowing  any  of  his  sjiermatozoids 
to  meet  within  an  ovum  of  any  woman  but  his  wife,  unless 
he  is  either  an  abandoned  man  or  a  fool;  for  after  the 
semen  has  left  him,  he  no  longer  has  the  slightest  control 
over  a  single  one  of  the  myriads  of  reproductive  elements, 
all  of  which  are  independently  and  automatically  striving 
to  their  utmost  to  fertilize 
the  ovum,  w^hich  has  in- 
dependently done  every- 
thing in  its  power  to 
prepare  itself  for  the  ad- 
mission of  the  head  of 
a  sperm atozoid  into  its 
yolk  -  substance,  and  to 
fuse  with  it. 

The  earliest  beginning 
of  life,  then,  is  the  im- 
pregnated ovum,  or  germ- 
cell,  which  has  the  mor- 
phological V  a  1  u  e  of  a 
single  cell,  and  is  endowed 
with  the  capacity  to  ger- 
minate into  the  next  stage,  which  embryologists  designate 
the  embryo-sfage. 

The  definitions  of  germ,  embryo,  and  foetus  are  purely 
arbitrary,  the  new  individual  being  called  a  germ  until  the 
rudimentary  characteristics  appear;  then  within  a  short 
space  of  time  it  is  called  an  embryo,  and  retains  this  name 
for  the  first  three  months  of  gestation,  or  until  the  placen- 
tal circulation  is  established ;  then  after  the  formation  of 
the  placenta,  from  the  end  of  the  third  month  to  the  close 
of  pregnancy,  it  is  called  &  foetus ;  then  w^hen  it  is  born  and 


Fig.  VI.— "Ovum  of  Asterias  Glacialis, 
with  male  and  female  pronucleus  and  a  ra- 
dial striation  of  the  protoplasm  around  the 
former."  (From  Balfour's  "  Comparative 
Embryology,"  p.  66.) 


250  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

separated  from  intimate  connection  with  its  mother  it  is 
called  a  hahe ;  then  while  it  is  dependent  on  its  mother  for 
nourishment,  and  while  it  occasionally  attaches  itself  to  her 
breasts,  .it  is  called  an  wfant;  and  subsequently  it  receives 
the  different  titles  of  child,  pubescent,  adolescent  and  adult, 
until  finally  it  becomes  a  neuter,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
with  the  advance  of  senile  decaj'.  It  is,  of  course,  the 
same  individual  throughout  all  this  course. 

The  reader  must  not  be  misled  by  the  scientific  phrase- 
ology into  thinking  that  the  newly  created  being  is  any- 
thing but  human;  for  this  nomenclature  has  been  adopted 
merely  for  convenience  of  description,  and  is  just  as  arti- 
ficial as  the  divisions  into  which  its  later  life  is  marked 
off.     Nature  has'no  such  lines  of  demarcation. 

The  ovum  having  become  a  germ-cell  as  described,  its 
yolk  or  vitelline  substance  contracts  around  the  newly  formed 
nucleus  which  resulted  from  the  blending  of  the  male  and 
female  pronuclei,  and  then  the  yolk  and  this  new  nucleus 
spontaneously  divide  into  tivo  nucleated  spheres,  which  are 
simply  two  new  cells,  each  with  a  new  nucleus,  which  have 
been  formed  by  the  splitting  of  the  original  cell  into  two 
halves. 

Each  of  these  two  new  cells  subdivides  into  two  other 
cells ;  these  newl}-  formed  cells  again  subdivide  in  the  same 
manner,  each  being  the  i^arent,  as  it  were,  of  a  new  nu- 
cleated cell,  and  so  they  continue  to  subdivide  in  a  geo- 
metrical ratio  of  progression  forming  4,  8,  16,  32,  and  so 
on.  This  process  is  called  cleavage,  or  Jission,  or  segmenta- 
tion of  the  cells. 

In  this  manner  of  geometrical  increase,  rapid  multiplica- 
tion of  cells  is  attained,  and  the  growing  child  owes  its 
evolution  into  adult  life  by  the  same  process  oi  Jissiparous 
division  of  cells. 

This  process — called  cleavage  of  the  yolk — is  continued 
until  the  whole  of  the  yolk  is  subdivided  into  numerous 
small  nucleated  cells  which  form  an  agglomeration  within 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION. 


251 


the  zona  pellucida  looking  like  a  mulberry,  from  wlieuce  it 
is  called  the  morula  stage. 

While  this  morula  is  developing  within  the  ovum,  the 
latter  is  at  the  same  time  increasing  in  size  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  albuminous  fluid  which  coats  it  during  its  descent 
along  the  Fallopian  tube. 


Fig.  VII. 


Fig.  VIIL 


Fig.  IX 


Fig.  X. 


First  Stages  in  Segmentation  op  a  Rabbit's  Ovum.— Fig.  VII.,  Ovum  has  split 
into  two  cells.  Fig.  VIII.,  Four-cell  stage.  Fig.  IX.,  Eight-cell  stage.  Fig.  X., 
The  morula  stage. 

The  cells  of  the  morula,  from  mutual  pressure,  become 
eventually  so  arranged  as  to  form  an  envelope,  or  bladder, 
which  is  closel}^  applied  all  around  to  the  vitelline  mem- 
brane (zona  pellucida).  This  arrangement  of  the  cells 
which  shows  the  first  indications  of  coherent  tissue  is 
called  the  blastoderm. 

The  blastoderm  is  the  first  stej)  in  the  development  of  the 
ovum  after  segmentation  of  the  yolk-substance  (vitellus), 


252  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

and.  it  gives  rise  to  two  germiual  layers  of  cells,  the  epi- 
blast  and  hypohlast,  between  which  there  soon  develops  a 
third  layer  of  cells,  the  mesohlast,  and  from  these  three 
germinal  layers  of  cells  all  the  structures  of  the  matu7'e  adult 
are  formed.  * 

There  appears  at  one  i)art  of  the  epihlast  the  earliest 
trace  which  is  at  all  characteristic  of  form ;  this  is  called 
the  primitive  streak  or  groove,  in  close  relationship  with 
which  the  central  nervous  system,  or  cerebrospinal  axis,  is 
developed. 

While  this  is  going  on,  blood-vessels  are  formed  wdthin 
the  mesoblast  which  become  distributed  over  the  blasto- 
derm. 

Eight  to  ten  days  are  supposed  to  have  elapsed  since 
the  ovum  was  fecundated ;  it  is  now  about  the  size  of  a 
pea;  the  first  characteristic  human  shape,  the  neural  canal, 
has  appeared;  it  is  still  in  the  Fallopian  tube,  where  it  was 
fertilized,  but  presently  passes  into  the  uterus,  where  it  finds 
lodgement  for  the  remainder  of  the  gestation  period. 

While  these  early  changes  have  been  taking  place  in  the 
ovum,  and  while  it  is  yet  in  the  Fallojoian  tube,  certain  pre- 
paratory- changes  also  occur  in  the  uterus,  the  mucous 
membrane  of  which,  through  a  sj-mpatheti'c  reflex  trophic 
influence,  becomes  swollen  and  thrown  into  folds,  so  that 
when  the  eight-  or  ten-daj-old  ovum  reaches  the  uterine 
cavity  it  is  stopped  in  its  descent  by  becoming  lodged  in  one 
of  these  folds. 

The  o\iim,  now  resting  in  a  cup-like  cavity  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  uterine  mucous  membrane,  and  being  endowed 
with  a  wonderfully  energetic  vitality,  seems  to  exert  a 
peculiar  irritative  influence  upon  the  area  immediately'  sur- 
rounding it,  so  that  the  edges  of  this  cup-like  cavity  grow 

'  The  differentiation  and  specialization  of  these  cells  into  the 
various  organs  and  tissues  of  the  body  is  exceedingly  intricate,  and 
cannot  be  explained  here,  and  for  such  enliglitenment  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  special  works  on  embryology. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  253 

up  around  it  and  finally  meet  so  as  to  include  and  retain  it. 
Thus  is  formed  what  is  called  the  decidua  rejlexa  (tiirued- 
back  decidua).  In  addition  to  this  there  is  a  layer  of 
membrane  formed,  closely  applied  to  the  uterine  cavit}', 
which  is  called  the  decidua  vera  (true  decidua),  and  of  this 
that  portion  which  lies  immediateh'  adjacent  to  the  fecun- 
dated ovum  becomes  specialh-  modified  to  form  the  decidua 
seroiina,  at  which  site  the  future  placenta  is  developed. 
Thus  there  is  a  threefold  division  of  the  deciduous  mem- 
branes—called deciduous  from  the  fact  that  they  are  dis- 
charged at  the  time  of  birth. 

These  deciduous  membranes,  developed  from  the  uterine 
mucous  membrane,  and  so  of  maternal  origin,  form  an  ex- 
ternal investment  for  the  o\'um,  while  within  these  are 
formed  yet  other  membranes  of  embryonic  origin,  consti- 
tuting the  foetal  parts  of  the  embryonic  sac. 

While  these  changes  are  going  on  in  the  formation  of  the 
membranes  the  embryo  itself  continues  to  grow. 

The  embryo  at  this  very  early  period,  i.e.,  after  the  for- 
mation of  the  vemxd  canal,  possesses  a  thickened  anterior 
extremity,  the  head  or  cephalic  end,  and  a  ccaidal  extremity 
or  tail.  From  these  extremities  hollow  pouches  develop, 
which  finally  meet  and  coalesce  to  form  a  single  shut  sac 
inclosing  the  embryo.  Thus  is  formed  what  is  called  the 
amnion.  This  amniotic  sac  contains  a  bland,  serous  fluid, 
the  liquor  amnii,  in  which  the  emijryo  floats;  eventuallj^ 
this  sac  fills  the  entire  uterine  cavity,  being  closely  ap- 
plied to  the  inner  surface  of  the  deciduous  membranes,  and 
constitutes  one  of  the  membranes  composing  the  "  bag  of 
waters,"  which  ruptures  when  labor  comes  on.  Sometimes 
during  birth  a  portion  of  the  amnion  adheres  to  the  child's 
head  as  a  skull-cap,  which  event  is  regarded  as  an  auspi- 
cious omen  hj  superstitious  midwives,  who  then  say  that 
the  child  was  "born  with  a  caul." 

The  allantois  is   a   membranous   pouch  which  springs 
from  the  embryo  and  ultimately  envelops  it,  so  that  the 


254  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

embryo  is  completely  invested  by  allantois  as  well  as  by 
amnion  and  deciduous  memhranes. 

Part  of  the  allantois  becomes  the  urinary  bladder,  part 
of  it  forms  tlie  umbilical  cord,  and  part  of  it  enters  into  the 
formation  of  the  placenta  by  its  union  with  the  cliorion. 

The  cliorion  is  the  outermost  lajer  of  the  foetal  envelope 
and  is  of  later  development ;  it  is  formed  by  the  allantois 
fusing  with  the  external  layer  of  the  amiiion,  and  these 
in  turn  become  amalgamated  with  the  vitelline  membrane 
to  form  a  new  membrane,  which  receives  the  name  of 
"  cJiorion." 

The  chorion,  then  becomes  covered  externally  with  a 
multiplicity  of  little  vascular  tufts  which  give  it  a  shaggy 
ai)pearance.  These  little  tufts,  called  chorionic  villi,  con- 
sist essentially  of  minute  arterioles  and  veinlets,  held 
together  by  connective  tissues.  These  villi  are  concerned  in 
the  early  m;trition  of  the  foetus.  They  eventually  disap- 
pear from  two-thirds  of  the  surface  of  the  chorion,  leaving 
this  part  smooth,  and  the  remaining  one-thii-d  remains 
shaggy  with  the  vascular  tufts,  and  forms  the  foetal  part  of 
the  placenta. 

Just  here  it  will  be  well  to  remind  the  reader  that  the 
term  ovum  is  used  in  various  senses.  In  the  preceding 
pages  we  applied  it  to  the  female  reproductive  element,  or 
immature  ovum ;  to  the  impregnated  ovum  or  oosperm ;  and 
to  the  various  later  stages  of  development.  We  started  by 
calling  it  a  single  cell,  and  later  on  described  it  as  consisting 
of  myriads  of  cells.  This  seems  strange  indeed,  but  the 
reason  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  all  the  developmental 
changes  of  the  embryo  and  of  the  foetal  membranes,  take 
place  entirely  within  the  original  cell-wall,  or  vitelline 
membrane,  which  of  course  becomes  enormously  distended . 
hj  the  wonderful  changes  which  occur  within  it. 

With  this  use  of  the  term  ovum,  a  woman  who  has  arrived 
at  the  end  of  the  pregnancy,  and  who  has  a  full-time  child 
within  her  utenis,  is  yet  spoken  of  as  carrying  an  entire 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  255 

ovum,  tlie  foetus,  of  course,  constituting  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant part  of  the  ovum. 

Furthermore  we  must  acknowledge  that  the  foregoing 
changes  have  never  all  been  observed  in  the  human  embryo, 
but  that  we  derive  our  information  from  a  study  of  com- 
parative embryology,  concluding  by  a  justifiable  inference 
that  the  processes  exactly  describe  the  earlj^  conditions 
found  in  man.  "The  embrj^os  of  a  man,  dog,  seal,  bat, 
reptile,  etc.,  can  at  first  hardly  be  distinguished  from  each 
other."  ' 

Among  animals  the  exact  date  of  coitus  can  be  readily 
fixed,  and  at  any  subsequent  day  the  female  can  be  killed 
for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  development  of  the  embryo. 
Obviously  it  is  impossible  to  observe  these  changes  in  a 
woman  except  by  an  occasional  accident. 

No  human  ovum  has  ever  been  seen  and  described  during 
the  first  week  of  embryonic  development,  and  very  few  as 
early  as  the  third  week. 

Reichert's  ovum  is  one  of  the  earliest  ones  to  have  been 
described.  It  was  taken  from  the  womb  of  a  woman  who 
committed  suicide,  as  supposed,  thirteen  daj-s  after  im- 
pregnation. 

The  placenta,  or  "  after -hirtli,''  is  the  organ  of  circulation, 
nutrition,  excretion  and  respiration  of  the  foetus,  and  the 
structure  by  which  the  foetus  is  attached  to  the  wall  of  the 
uterus  by  means  of  the  umbilical  cord,  or  "navel-string." 

It  begins  to  be  formed  about  the  end  of  the  second  month 
of  gestation,  but  is  not  fully  develoi:)ed  until  the  end  of  the 
third  month.  At  full-time  birth  its  long  diameter  is  six, to 
eight  inches,  while  its  greatest  thickness  is  from  two-thirds 
to  one  inch ;  its  weight  is  about  twenty  ounces,  and,  rough- 
ly speaking,  it  is  about  the  size  of  a  soup-plate. 

It  is  partly  foetal  and  partly  maternal  in  origin,  and  ex- 
ceedingly vascular.  The  maternal  and  foetal  bood-vessels 
come  into  the  closest  possible  relationship  to  each  other, 
»  Darwin,  "  Descent  of  Man, "  i. .  31. 


256  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

onl}'  the  thinnest  membranous  septum  separating  them. 
But  the  maternal  and  foetal  bloods  never  mix,  there  being 
no  direct  communication  between  the  two  circulations,  and 
yet  by  diffusion,  or  osmosis,  there  is  an  interchange  of 
nutritive  elements  and  gases,  constituting  nutrition  and 
the  equivalent  of  respiration.  The  loiihilical  cord,  or  navel- 
string,  connects  the  foetus  and  placenta;  it  contains  two 
arteries  and  one  vein ;  through  it  the  foetus  derives  its  nour- 
ishment from  the  j)lacenta,  and  also  gets  rid  of  its  waste 
products. 

The  placenta,  navel-string,  and  foetal  and  maternal  mem- 
branes together  constitute  what  is  called  the  "after-birth," 
or  "secuudines,"  which  are  "born"  usually  about  twenty 
minutes  after  the  birth  of  the  child. 

The  Growth  and  Developmeid  of  the  Human  Foetus. — The 
ovum  having  been  impregnated,  the  phenomenon  of  seg- 
mentation follows  until  a  morula  is  formed.  Then,  probably 
on  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  day,  there  is  the  appearance 
of  the  medullary  groove  and  cephalic  expansion,  which  give 
the  earliest  indications  of  the  embr3^onal  form.  The 
neural  or  sjnnal  canal  having  been  formed,  there  develops 
in  it  a  rod  of  nerve  tissue,  the  anterior  extremity  of  which 
enlarges  to  form  the  brain.  Thus  the  nervous  system  is 
among  the  first  of  the  structures  of  the  body  to  be  formed. 

By  the  end  of  the  second  iceeh  the  primitive  heart  appears 
in  the  form  of  a  tubular  cavity,  when  the  embryo  is  only 
one-eighteenth  of  an  inch  in  length. 

At  the  end.  of  the  second  iccel',  or  beginning  of  the  third 
weeli,  the  heart  is  actively  heating,  and  at  the  end  of  a  month 
the  four  chambers  of  the  heart  have  formed. ' 

The  brain-vesicles  can  now  be  seen,  and  the  rudiments 
of  the  eyes  and  ears  are  differentiated.  As  early  as  the 
twenty-first  day  the  limbs  begin  to  appear,  as  well  as  the 
elements  of  the  eyes,  nose  and  mouth. 

During  ihQ  fourth  week  the  growth  of  the  embryo  is  more 

'  By  "  month"  is  here  meant  a  lunar  month  of  twenty -eight  days. 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  257 

active  in  regard  to  its  changes  of  form  and  feature  than  at 
any  other  time.  It  now  changes  its  attitude,  so  that  from 
being  erect  it  becomes  strongly  flexed  until  the  cephalic 
and  caudal  extremities  meet  or  even  actually  overlap.  At 
the  end  of  the  fourth  week  the  whole  "  ovum"  is  about  the 
size  of  a  j^igeon's  egg,  the  heart  has  increased  in  size  and 
power,  the  rudiments  of  the  limbs  are  prominent,  the 
primitive  intestine  is  well  formed,  and  the  vertebrae  and 
nerve  centres  are  distinct. 

In  the  second  mo)dh  the  eyes  are  distinctly  seen,  the  ex- 
ternal ear  has  appeared,  and  the  kidneys  are  formed.  As 
early  as  the  fifth  or  sixth  week  the  nose  and  mouth  are 
formed,  and  the  fingers  and  toes  can  be  seen.  In  the  second 
month,  also,  the  external  sexual  organs  are  formed,  though 
it  is  not  yet  possible  to  determine  the  sex,  for  male  and 
female  are  apparently  identical  in  their  early  development. 
At  the  end  of  this  month  the  ovum  is  about  the  size  of  a 
hen's  egg,  and  the  contained  embryo  from  one  inch  to  one 
and  a  half  inches  in  length. 

At  three  months  the  embryo  is  about  three  and  a  half 
inches  long  in  its  curved  position.  * 

The  eyes,  ears,  fingers,  and  sexual  organs  are  well  formed, 
and  the  sex  can  now  be  determined.  At  the  end  of  the  third 
month  the  placenta  is  well  formed.  The  foetus  is  now 
markedly  human,  though  the  head  preponderates  in 
size. 

At  the  fourth  month  the  foetus  is  pretty  generally  covered 
with  dowTiy  hairs;  the  eyes,  nostrils  and  lips  are  closed; 
it  can  move  its  limbs  freely,  and  is  quite  human  in  appear- 
ance.    The  external  sexual  organs  are  well  defined. 

At  the  end  of  four  and  a  half  to  five  montJis  a  skilled  ear 
can  hear  the  sounds  of  the  foetal  heart  through  the  ab- 
dominal walls  of  the  mother,  and  in  specially  favorable 
cases,  if  the  woman's  abdominal  walls  be  not  too  fat,  if 
the  room  be  quiet,  and  if  the  listener  be  skilled  in  auscul- 
tation, it  can  be  heard  somewhat  earlier.  At  the  close  of 
17 


258  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

the  fourth  montli  the  mother  can  usually  distinctly  feel  the 
active  movements  of  the  foetus — "quickening." 

The  heart-sounds  of  the  foetus  give  absolutely  positive 
signs  of  pregnancy.  The  younger  the  foetus  the  more 
rapid  they  are,  and  even  at  birth  the  child's  heart-beats 
are  about  twice  as  frequent  as  the  mother's. 

A  foetus  born  at  fve  months  breathes,  cries  faintly,  but 
dies  at  the  end  of  a  few  hours. 

At  six  months  the  foetus  is  a  little  more  than  a  foot  in 
length  and  weighs  in  the  neighborhood  of  two  pounds. 
It  may  live  for  from  a  day  to  two  weeks,  and,  if  kept  in  an 
incubator,  ma}'  j^ossibly  survive.  At  the  end  of  seven 
months  the  child  is  viable — capable  of  sur\d\'ing — though 
infants  born  at  this  time  usually  succumb.  The  popular 
idea  that  a  "seven  mouths'  child"  is  more  likely  to  live 
than  one  born  at  the  eighth  month  is  erroneous  and  unrea- 
sonable. 

At  the  end  of  the  eighth  month  the  foetus  is  about  sixteen 
inches  in  length  and  weighs  about  five  jjounds. 

At  the  end  of  nine  months  the  foetus  measures  nineteen 
and  a  half  to  twenty -two  inches  in  length,  and  averages  six 
or  seven  pounds.  A  child  born  at  nine  months  is  less  ■ 
energetic  than  at  full  term,  sleeps  the  greater  part  of  the 
time,  and  is  less  apt  to  survive.  At  the  end  of  pregnancy, 
i.e.,  ten  lunar  montlis — two  hundred  and  eighty  days — the 
average  length  of  the  child  is  from  twenty  to  twentj'-two 
inches,  and  its  average  weight  is  from  six  to  eight  pounds.' 
Its  bod\'  is  plump  and  well  rounded ;  the  nails  on  the  fingers 
and  toes  are  hard,  and  the  finger-nails  project  beyond  the 
tips  of  the  fingers ;  the  hair  on  the  head  is  about  half  an 
inch  in  length ;  the  child  cries  lustily  on  being  born,  and 
makes  active  efforts  at  sucking  any  object  placed  between 
its  lips. 

It  is  certainly  quite  evident  that  the  individual  has  life, 
and  therefore  the  rights  of  a  separate  being,  from  the  mo- 
ment of  conception,  and  that  the  earliest  part  of  that  life 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  259 

is,  if  anything,  fuller  of  developmental  incidents  and 
changes  than  any  of  the  later  periods  of  existence.  Float- 
ing in  a  membraneous  sac  filled  with  amniotic  fluid,  the 
minute  embryo  assumes  constantly  varying  positions  and 
executes  movements  which,  of  course,  are  too  delicate  to 
be  perceived  by  the  mother,  until  at  about  four  and  a  half 
months  it  is  powerful  enough  to  "  leap  within  its  mother's 
womb"  and  make  its  presence  felt.  This  is  called  "  quick- 
ening." 

Some  would  seek  to  maintain  that  the  soul  does  not  enter 
the  foetus  until  this  "  (piickening"  has  been  felt  by  the 
mother,  and  these  are  the  kind  of  peoi:)le  who  would  argue 
as  to  how  many  angels  could  balance  themselves  on  the 
point  of  a  needle. 

The  soul,  being  an  unsubstantial  entity,  is,  of  course,  in- 
capable of  demonstration,  but  if  we  have  faith  to  believe  that 
mortal  man  has  such  a  gift,  we  cannot  in  reason  assume 
the  task  of  defining  when  it  has  entered  into  the  body. 
We  do  know  that  the  responsibility  of  giving  birth  to  life 
is  equally  as  great  as  the  taking  of  life,  and  that  if  the 
foetus  were  left  to  fulfil  its  normal  destinj^  it  would  have  the 
chance  to  round  out  a  useful  career ;  and  it  is  not  for  us  to 
say  whether  it  shall  be  destroyed  any  more  than  if  it  were 
a  few  stages  further  advanced  in  life. 

The  mass  of  i^eople  of  course  never  see  human  beings 
except  during  their  air-ljreathing  existence,  and  they  look 
upon  illustrations  of  the  early  embryo  as  being  hideously 
ugly  and  repulsive,  not  sto^^ping  to  realize  that  each  one  of 
us  has  passed  through  similar  stages,  and  that,  after  all, 
the  gradations  are  hardly  more  marked  than  those  occur- 
ring between  infancy  and  senilit3^ 

Friends  who  knew  us  as  children  pass  us  by  unrecog- 
nized when  we  have  added  years  to  our  bodies,  and  graded 
changes  are  the  rule  throughout  the  cycle  of  life.  Under 
the  microscope  the  early  embryo  is  just  as  beautiful,  so 
physiologists  think,  and  shows  as  much,  or  even  more, 


260  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

vitality  in  its  young  tissues  than  when  it  Las  readied  the 
maturer  stages  of  development. 

It  is  a  misconception  to  assume  that  tlie  spark  of  life  in 
the  embryo  is  precarious  and  easily  quenched.  On  the 
contrary  it  seems  that  the  younger  it  is  the  more  tenacious 
is  it  of  life. 

Even  such  crude  biologists  as  butchers  and  fishmongers 
have  daily  evidence  that  some  fishes,  e.g.,  shad,  will  live  for 
upward  of  thirty-six  hours  after  being  removed  from  their 
element,  and  it  is  well  known  that  turtles  will  live  for  more 
than  a  day  with  their  heads  cut  oflf ;  so  also  will  snakes  and 
some  others  of  the  cold-blooded  animals — reptiles  and 
amphibians. 

In  our  early  development  we  pass  through  forms  very 
similar  to  those  of  these  animals,  and  the  writer  has  re- 
peatedly seen  evidences  of  life  in  foetuses,  born  before  they 
could  respire,  for  some  considerable  time  after  their  expul- 
sion. Thus,  for  instance,  in  one  foetus,  born  during  an  ac- 
cidental abortion  between  the  third  and  fourth  month,  life 
was  observed  in  a  most  striking  manner.  After  the  mother 
had  given  birth  to  it  in  the  hospital,  the  nurse  placed  it  in 
a  jar  of  water,  where  it  remained  immersed  for  more  than 
two  hours.  Not  realizing  that  there  was  life  in  it,  it  was 
pinned  to  a  board  for  the  purj^oses  of  dissection  in  order 
to  study  the  foetal  circulation.  Upon  laying  open  its  thorax 
and  abdomen  the  operators  were  astonished  to  see  violent 
respiratory  efforts,  through  the  lungs  were  incapable  of 
expansion  at  this  early  date. 

It  being  recognized  that  the  foetus  was  at  a  non-viable  age, 
and  that  it  was  insensitive  to  pain,  the  dissection  continued, 
until  finally  the  pericardium  was  laid  open  and  the  beautiful 
physiological  demonstration  of  a  beating  human  heart  was 
afforded.  The  auricles  and  ventricles  were  then  laid  open, 
showing  the  mechanism  of  the  action  of  the  valves  of  the 
heart,  and  even  then  the  contractions  did  not  cease  for 
almost  two  hours. 


CKIMINAL  ABORTION.  261 

At  the  risk  of  the  reader  misunderstanding  how  one  could 
make  such  a  dissection  on  a  human  being,  it  is,  neverthe- 
less, here  mentioned  as  a  valuable  example  of  the  wonder- 
ful pertinacitj'  of  life,  a  point  of  the  utmost  imi:)ortance. 

We  believe  that  what  we  call  "  life"  was  not  present  dur- 
ing this  observation,  but  that  the  muscles  merely  retained 
their  contractility,  as  do  those  of  the  frog  after  they  have 
been  separated  from  all  connection  with  the  brain. 

It  is  a  comf)lete  demonstration,  however,  that  the  esbrly 
foetus  possesses  a  remarkable  vitalitj^  comparable  to  that 
commonly  observed  in  the  cold-blooded  animals,  and  the 
writer  gives  the  assurance  that  it  is  an  exceedingly  difficult 
thing  quickly  to  kill  an  early  embryo;  and  furthermore, 
he  believes  that  the  younger  the  embryo  the  more  tena- 
cious of  life  it  is;  and  that  an  embrj'o  born  even  at  the 
first  or  second  month  will  continue  to  live,  even  under  very 
unfavorable  circumstances,  for  several  hours,  while  others 
may  survive,  even  though  maimed  by  unsuccessful  attempts 
at  criminal  abortion,  and  be  subsequently  born  deformed.' 

Thus  we  see  most  plainly  that  life  is  present  with  won- 
derful activitj^,  and  with  progressive  evolutionar}^  advances, 
and  not  stopping  to  discuss  the  trivial  question  when  the  soul 
meets  the  body,  we  are  now  in  a  position  to  proceed  intel- 
ligently to  the  subject  of  criminal  abortion.'' 

Definitions. — The  definitions  of  the  term  "abortion"  vary 
somewhat  in  different  countries,  and  are  not  used  in  the 
same  sense  by  the  medical  and  legal  professions,  nor  yet 
by  all  doctors  or  all  lawj^ers.  By  many  doctors  the  term 
"  abortion"  is  confined  to  the  expulsion  of  the  contents  of 

'  Vide  p.  286. 

-Tlie  reader  who  has  become  interested  in  embryology,  and  who 
wishes  to  gain  more  profound  information,  is  referred  to  the  works 
of  standard  authority  which  have  been  studied  by  the  writer.  A  few 
of  these  specially  to  be  commended  are  :  "Human  Embryology,"  by 
Charles  Sedgwick  Minot,  of  Harvard  University  ;  Lusk's,  Playfair's, 
Parvin's,  and  King's  text-books  on  obstetrics,  and  Gray's  "Anat- 
omy," Landois  and  Sterling's  "Physiology." 


262  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

the  womb  during  the  first  three  months  of  gestation — i.e., 
before  the  placenta  has  fully  formed;  "miscarriage"  is  the 
term  employed  from  the  third  month  to  the  end  of  the  sixth 
or  seventh  month,  when  the  child  is  supposed  to  be  viable ; 
and  "  premature  labor"  is  said  to  occur  at  any  time  after 
the  child  is  viable  to  the  end  of  the  full-time  pregnancy. 
Artificial  divisions  of  time  for  defining  abortion  are  used 
only  for  convenience ;  but  all  these  are  not  without  great 
imperfections,  for  Nature  has  no  fixed  rules  of  time  and 
is  not  confined  to  hard  lines  of  demarcation.  It  is  no  less 
difficult  than  to  define  "  where  lamb  ends  and  mutton  be- 
gms. 

A  child  may  or  may  not  be  viable  before  the  expiration 
of  seven  mouths,  and  instances  have  been  recorded  where  a 
child  born  considerabl}^  before  the  sixth  month  survived. 

Bouvier's  "Law  Dictionary",  defines  abortion  to  be  the 
"  expulsion  of  the  foetus  at  a  period  of  utero-gestation  so 
early  that  it  has  not  acquired  the  power  of  sustaining  an 
independent  life."  Storer  defines  abortion  to  be  "the  vio- 
lent and  premature  expulsion  of  the  product  of  conception, 
independent  of  its  age,  viability,  and  normal  function."  ' 

The  "  Centurj'  Dictionary "  saj's  that  the  distinction 
between  the  terms  abortion  and  miscarricKje  is  somewhat  use- 
less, and  that  "  anminal  abortion  is  premeditated  or  inten- 
tional abortion  jjrocured,  at  any  period  of  pregnancy,  by 
artificial  means,  and  solely  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  birth  of  a  living  child — foeticide.  At  common  law  the 
criminality  depended  on  the  abortion  being  caused  after 
quickening.     Some  modern  statutes  provide  otherwise." 

The  law  requires  that  the  procuring  of  abortion,  in  order 
to  be  criminal,  must  be  icith  fdonious  intent,  for  it  may  be 
necessary  as  a  therapeutic  measure.  Again,  abortion  has 
been  legally  defined  thus :  "  Any  person  who  does  any  act 
calculated  to  prevent  a  child  from  being  born  alive  is  guilty 
of  abortion.  The  intention  constitutes  the  crime,  not  the 
'R.  H.  Storer,  M.D.,  "Why  Not?" 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  263 

means  employed.  The  drugs  may  even  be  harmless." 
Usually  in  law,  the  term  abortion  is  api^lied  to  deliver}^  at 
any  time  before  the  viability  of  the  child,  but  it  should  be 
extended  to  the  expulsion  of  the  fcetus  at  any  time  before 
the  full  period  of  gestation  is  completed.  Bouvier's  "Law 
Dictionary"  again  says: 

"  In  this  country  [the  United  States]  it  has  been  held 
that  it  is  not  an  indictable  offence,  at  common  law,  to 
administer  a  drug  or  iaerform  an  operation  upon  a  preg- 
nant woman  with  her  consent,  with  the  intention  and  for 
the  purpose  of  causing  an  abortion  and  premature  birth  of 
the  foetus  of  which  she  is  pregnant,  by  means  of  which  an 
abortion  is  in  fact  caused,  unless  at  the  time  of  the  admin- 
istration of  such  drug  or  the  performance  of  such  an  opera- 
tion such  woman  was  '  quick '  with  child." 

Or,  in  x)lain  language,  it  says  that  abortion  is  not  an 
indictable  offence  unless  the  woman  be  "  quick"  with  child. 

The  English  law  makes  no  distinction  between  a  woman 
"quick"  or  "not  quick,"  with  child.  Therein  it  is  better, 
as  will  presently  appear. ' 

"  Every  woman,  being  ivifh  child,  who,  with  intent  to  pro- 
cure her  own  miscarriage,  shall  unlawfully  administer  to 
herself  anj^  poison  or  other  noxious  thing,  or  shall  uulaw- 
full}'  use  any  instrument,  or  other  means  whatsoever,  with 
the  like  intent ;  and  whosoever,  with  intent  to  procure  the 
miscarriage  of  any  woman,  whether  she  be  or  be  not  with 
child,  shall  unlawfully  administer  to  her,  or  cause  to  be 
taken  hj  her,  any  poison  or  other  noxious  thing,  or  shall 
unlawfully  use  any  instrument,  or  other  means  whatsoever, 
with  the  like  intent,  shall  be  guilty  of  felony,  and  being 
convicted  thereof,  shall  be  liable,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
court,  to  be  kept  in  penal  servitude  for  life,  or  for  any  term 
not  less  than  five  years,  or  to  be  imprisoned  for  any  term 
not  exceeding  two  years,  with  or  without  hard  labor,  and 
with  or  without  solitary  confinement." 

»  Statutes  24  and  35  Vict.,  c.  100,  s   58. 


264  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

In  an  editorial  appearing  in  a  prominent  medical  journal 
tlie  punishments  accorded  to  the  crime  in  the  various  coun- 
tries of  the  civilized  world  are  thus  summed  up. 

"  In  England  and  Ireland  the  punishment  is  penal  ser- 
vitude for  life,  or  a  less  term.  Should  the  mother  die,  the 
crime  becomes  murder,  which  may  be  punished  bv  death. 
In  Scotland  (says  The  Lancet),  the  punishment  is  arbi- 
trary; in  France,  Spain,  the  German  Empire,  Austria, 
Hungary,  Italy,  Russia,  Norway,  Sweden,  and  Denmark — 
in  short,  throughout  the  whole  of  Europe — the  crime  is 
punished  with  imprisonment  for  from  six  months  to  twenty 
years,  or  for  life.  In  Sweden  the  penalt}^  is  death  if  the 
mother  dies;  and  in  Russia  the  mother,  if  a  consenting 
party,  may  be  exiled  to  Siberia;  in  the  Dominion  of  Can- 
ada the  penalty  is  imprisonment  for  life ;  in  Nova  Scotia, 
Quebec,  Ontario,  British  Columbia,  and  in  Prince  Edward 
Island  it  varies  from  imi)risonment  for  two  years  to  for 
life ;  in  New  Brunswick  the  penalty  is  death ;  in  Australia 
and  New  Zealand  the  punishment  is  very  severe,  ranging 
from  two  years'  imprisonment  to  penal  servitude  for  life; 
in  the  United  States  it  is  punished  with  fines  ranging  from 
$100  to  85,000,  with  imprisonment  for  long  periods,  and 
with  death."" 

Signifcaiwe  of  the  Term  "  Quickening.''' — In  the  United 
States  many  of  the  States  still  lay  stress  in  their  statutorj^ 
laws  on  the  objectionable  term  "quick,"  though  this  dis- 
astrous word  has  been  intelligently  stricken  out  from  the 
laws  of  many  of  our  commonwealths,  and  it  will  doubtless 
soon  be  universally  recognized  by  the  legal  profession  that 
this  requirement  of  "  quickening"  is  of  no  moment  whatever 
in  fixing  the  degree  of  the  crime  of  procuring  abortion. 

Had   the   popular    views   regarding    "quickening"   and 

embryology  been  correct,  it  is  certain  that  millions  of  lives, 

some  undoubtedly  of  priceless  potential  value  to  society, 

would  have  been  saved.     At  the  date  of  this  occurrence  the 

'  New  York  Medical  Record,  August  19,  1893. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  265 

foetus  is  first /e?/  to  be  uliveby  the  mother,  though  of  course 
it  has  been  hitherto  steadily  developing  and  making  active 
movements,  which,  however,  have  been  too  feeble  to  make 
themselves  ai:)parent. 

Let  us  here  quote  from  the  report  of  the  committee  ap- 
pointed by  the  New  York  Medico-Legal  Society  in  1872 — 
James  J.  O'Dea,  M.D.  (Chairman),  Elbridge  T.  Gerry, 
George  F.  Shrady,  M.D.,  William  Shrady,  Stephen 
Kogers,  M.D.,  Judge  Gunning  S.  Bedford,  committee: 

"At  length  Christianity  came  to  measure  swords  with 
the  growing  evil"— «*.e.,  in  the  first  century.  "For  a  time 
the  contest  was  warm.  A  society  corrupted  by  ill-gotten 
wealth  and  sensual  gratification  would  not  surrender  such 
convenient  doctrine  without  a  determined  resistance.  The 
battle  waxed  fierce,  but  the  already  assured  triumph  of  the 
purifying  faith  was  postponed  by  a  compromise  (how  orig- 
inated or  by  whom  proposed  does  not  appear)  no  less  dis- 
astrous than  the  pagan  theory  it  supplanted. 

"  By  this  compromise  it  was  agreed  to  consider  the  foetus 
as  endowed  with  life  only  from  the  date  of  the  maternal 
sensation  called  '  quickening. '  Abortions  forced  after 
'  quickening '  were  branded  as  serious  crimes,  but  all  so 
caused  before  this  period  were  suffered  to  pass  unnoticed. 
Henceforth  '  quick '  became  a  word  of  evil  omen.  It  is 
ti'ue  the  canon  law  subsecjuently  disregarded  this  com- 
promise, declared  the  foetus  alive  from  conception,  and  con- 
demned its  destruction  at  any  period  of  utero-gestation  as  a 
great  and  wicked  crime.  The  Christian  Church,  to  its  eter- 
nal honor  be  it  said,  has  ever  advocated  and  enforced  the 
jjrinciple  of  the  inviolability  of  foetal  life.  But  the  mis- 
chief could  not  be  undone.  A  doctrine,  only  a  degree  less 
heartless  than  its  pagan  predecessor,  took  a  firm  hold  on 
society.  How  effectually  it  influences  the  opinion  and 
practice  of  our  own  time,  how  completely  it  has  permeated 
all,  but  more  particularly  the  higher,  ranks  of  contemporary 
society,  needs  not  to  be  insisted  upon  here.     Among  those 


266  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

who  are  competent  to  pronounce  on  this  question  of 
'  quickening '  there  is,  however,  but  one  opinion,  and  to  it 
your  committee  ask  the  undivided  attention  of  the  com- 
munity. Tlie  foptus  is  alive  from  conception,  and  all  inten- 
tional killing  oj  it  is  murder.  The  worki  is  free  to  discuss 
the  transcendental  problem  concerning  the  stage  of  develop- 
ment at  which  the  foetus  becomes  endowed  with  a  soul.  If 
there  never  were  such  an  existence  as  a  soul,  if  men  per- 
ished utterly  when  they  died,  laws  against  murder  would 
still  hold  good,  because  laws  against  murder  were  enforced, 
not  for  the  soul's  sake,  but  to  preserve  the  peace  and  even 
the  existence  of  societ}'." 

What  is  the  significance  of  this  sinister  word  "  quicken- 
ing," which  has  for  so  many  centuries  been  the  cause  of 
millions  of  deaths,  and  Avhich  has  persisted  in  our  statutes, 
so  that  our  laws  have  made  it  the  basis  of  a  distinction  be- 
tween the  degrees  of  guilt  of  criminal  abortion'?  The  de- 
ductions from  the  word  have  been  entirely  erroneous  and 
immoral. 

Quickening  occurs  at  that  time  in  the  life  of  the  foetus 
when  the  mother's  i:)erception  first  enables  her  to  detect 
life  in  her  womb  by  its  active  movements ;  then  its  throes  of 
life  unmistakably'  arrest  her  consciousness  and  render  her 
reasonably  certain  that  she  is  with  child.  The  movements 
of  the  child  are  due  to  a  reflex  action  of  its  nervous  system, 
whereby  it  assumes  x^ositions  favorable  for  its  growth,  and 
these  motions  occur  long  before  the  time  when  there  is  any 
possibility  of  their  being  perceived  by  the  parent — as  may 
occasionally  be  seen  in  the  muscular  actions  of  embryos  of 
abortions  occurring  before  the  natural  time  of  "quicken- 
ing." The  foetus,  in  the  earlier  months  of  pregnane^-,  is 
very  small  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  cavity  which  it 
occupies,  and,  floating  in  a  large  membranous  sac  filled  with 
amniotic  fluid,  it  may  freely  swim  or  move  about  without 
imparting  the  slightest  sensation  to  its  mother.  Later 
on,  as  it  increases  in  size,  it  more  completely  fills  the  uter- 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  267 

ine  cavity,  aud  is  able,  as  it  were,  to  get  a  "  purcliase"  on 
one  side  of  its  confiued  space  while  it  kicks  against  the 
other.  These  motions  are  at  first  sliglit,  and  Montgomery 
has  compared  the  sensation  which  they  impart  to  the 
mother  "  to  the  tremulous  motion  of  a  little  bird  held  in 
the  hand" ;  others  describe  it  as  a  "  fluttering"  or  "  pulsa- 
ting" sensation;  later  on  the  motions  become  so  violent 
that  bystanders  can  see  the  effect  by  the  marked  kicking 
within  the  mother's  womb,  and  she  sometimes  cries  out 
in  pain  and  alarm  at  their  intensity. 

"  The  pregnant  woman  receives  a  great  many  hints  as 
the  signs  and  symptoms  accumulate  and  corroborate  each 
other  that  a  live  and  growing  foetus  is  developing  in  her 
uterus,  but  she  now  waits  for  a  decided  kick  before  she 
will  believe  that  the  foetus  is  alive.  This  kick  is  awaited 
anxiously  by  the  woman  as  well  as  the  law  to  announce 
that  the  child  is  sufficiently  formed  for  its  destruction  to 
constitute  even  a  misdemeanor. 

"  It  must  kick  very  decidedly  and  unmistakably  for  several 
months  before  its  killing  constitutes  a  felony,  and,  as  one 
judge  has  held,  should  it  be  knocked  on  the  head  with  a 
hammer  or  strangled  with  a  garter  after  its  head  is  born, 
but  before  it  is  wliollj^  delivered  and  separate  from  its 
mother,  it  is  not  sufliciently  alive  in  the  eye  of  the  law  for 
its  killing  to  constitute  murder."^ 

Public  opinion  and  the  courts  have  for  a  long  time  seem- 
ingly contended  that  at  this  time  the  soul  meets  the  bod}^ 
but  we  know  that  the  child  is  as  much  alive  in  one  mouth 
as  another,  that  its  individuality  dates  from  the  time  that 
the  spermatozoon  first  impregnated  the  o-vn^im,  and  that 
subsequently  to  its  creation  it  was  as  much  alive  in  the 
dim  dawn  of  its  existence  as  in  maturity. 

The  foetus  is  quite  able  to  employ  its  muscles  at  the  tenth 
week;  and  "quickening"  is  frequently  felt  as  early  as  that, 

'"Abortion  and  its  Effects."  Joseph  Taber  Johnson,  M.D., 
American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  vol.  xxxiii.,  No.  1,  1896 


268  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

though  usually  not  until  it  is  about  four  and  a  half  months 
old.  However,  this  sensation  is  sometimes  not  experienced 
till  the  sixth  month,  and  sometimes  not  at  all  even  when  the 
child  is  ruddy  and  strong.  The  fact  that  "  quickening"  has 
never  been  felt  does  not  at  all  imply  that  the  foetus  is  not  per- 
fectly well  and  healthy,  though  the  phenomenon  does  occur 
in  the  large  majority  of  pregnancies.  "Quickening"  is 
merely  an  incident,  and  a  trifling  one,  in  the  course  of  the 
pregnane}^ ;  it  does  not  in  any  way  indicate  the  union  of 
"life"  or  the  "souF'  with  the  body,  nor  any  new  state  in 
the  existence  of  the  foetus,  but  is  merely  an  incidental  per- 
ception hj  the  mother  of  the  very  active  manifestation  of  a 
pre-existing  life.  Is  it  not  most  evidently  absurd  to  sup- 
pose that  the  foetus  is  not  endowed  with  life  until  the 
mother  can  feel  its  motions?  What  has  it  been  doing  all 
this  time  if  it  has  not  been  growing  and  developing?  Its 
muscles  and  the  bones  to  which  they  are  attached  must,  of 
necessity,  have  time  to  grow  and  develop  before  it  can 
make  movements  of  sufficient  violence  for  the  mother  to 
detect. 

As  the  reader  sits  in  his  chair  perusing  these  pages  he 
is  not  conscious  that  the  blood  in  his  arteries  and  veins  is 
coursing  through  them  endowed  with  vitality,  and  yet,  be- 
cause he  cannot  detect  any  sensation  whatever,  it  is  none 
the  less  vital. 

Some  advance  the  argument  that  the  foetus,  being  de- 
pendent for  its  existence  on  its  connections  with  the 
mother,  has  not  a  separate  life,  and  that  consequently  it 
may  be  wilfully  destroyed  without  incurring  the  guilt  of 
murder.  But  are  we  not  all  of  us  dependent  for  our  existence 
upon  the  media  of  our  environments — the  atmosphere  we 
breathe,  the  food  and  drink  which  nourish  us,  and  the  fire 
and  raiment  which  give  us  warmth?  Neither  do  we  adults 
lead  independent  existences,  and  to  deprive  us  of  any  one  of 
these  agencies  upon  which  our  lives  hang  would  be  mur- 
der.    The  infant  at  its  mother's  breast  is  no  less  dependent 


CRIMINAL    ABORTION.  269 

upon  her  than  the  foetus  which  gets  its  nourishment  through 
the  umbilical  cord  and  placenta.  The  plea  that  the  child 
may  be  hilled  because  it  is  dependent  for  its  existence  upon 
its  mother  is  as  applicable  to  the  suckling  as  to  the  foetus. 
A  pregnant  woman  is  sacred  and  should  so  be  regarded 
both  by  herself  and  others;  her  hallowed  womb  is  the 
atelier  of  Nature,  in  which  the  child  should  be  nourished 
safeh',  in  i)erfect  tranquillity,  and  undisturbed  in  its  evolu- 
tionary stages  b}^  the  faintest  suspicion  of  a  plot  against 
its  defenceless  life.  How  ineffectual  and  absurd  is  the 
law  which  requires  that  "  quickening"  must  have  been  felt 
by  the  mother  in  order  to  establish  an  indictable  offence ! 
If  the  sensation  were  denied  bj^  the  mother  to  be  appreci- 
able at  the  time  of  the  deed,  who  is  to  gainsay  the  truth  of 
the  assertion?  No  one  except  the  mother  feels  the  first 
"quickening,"  and,  especially  as  it  is  a  painless  sensation, 
she  can  deny  its  presence  with  impunity. 

Historical. — Let  us  shortly  consider  the  execrable  his- 
tory of  Criminal  Abortion,  and  then  inquire  further  into 
the  frequency  of  the  practice  in  our  i^resent  life.  It  is  a 
picture  of  human  crimes  and  weaknesses — a  histoid'  of  as- 
sassination— a  consideration  of  which  may  j^revent  the  evil 
deeds  from  gaining  an  infamous  acceptance  by  posterity. 

Foeticide  has  been  chronicled  from  the  earliest  times,  and 
casts  a  shadow  over  our  land  to-day ;  it  is  no  new  crime,  but 
has  been  practised  among  all  nations  with  the  sole  excep- 
tion of  the  Jews.  The  statutes  of  Moses  registered  no  laws 
in  relation  to  this  crime,  except  the  sweeping  law  of  the 
sixth  commandment,  "  Thou  shalt  not  Jdll.'"  Jewish  wo- 
men have  ever  considered  it  an  honor  to  bear  large  families 
to  their  husbands,  and  this  is  one  reason  why  the  Jews  have 
spread  over  the  earth  and  prosjoered  in  spite  of  the  most 
violent  opposition.  This  remarkable  people,  who  have  a 
history  which  is  the  "  standing  astonishment  of  the  world," 
can  never  rise  to  preeminence  among  the  nations  until  the 
curse  under  which  they  labor  is  removed;  nor  can  they 


270  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

be  annihilated,  because  they  live  nuder  a  blessing — the 
propitious  influence  of  their  kind  of  ancient  civilization 
being  in  no  small  measure  due  to  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
Mosaic  laws  governing  their  sexual  hygiene  and  relation- 
shijis.  However,  the  writer  has  been  told  by  Jewish  doc- 
tors that  the  crime  is  beginning  to  spread  among  the 
Americanized  Jewesses,  but  only  among  that  class  who 
have  put  aside  all  religion. 

Among  the  Mohammedans  the  practice  is  very  prevalent, 
for,  although  it  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  Mohammed,  it  is 
considered  less  wicked  than  to  give  birth  to  an  illegitimate 
child. 

In  China,  Japan,  India  and  Africa  this  practice  has  been, 
and  still  is,  fearfully  prevalent.  These  benighted  peo- 
ples, with  their  teeming  and  redundant  populations  and 
overtaxed  food-supjily,  ])lace  very  little  value  on  human 
life.  It  is  related  that  during  the  last  century  vehicles 
went  regularly  round  the  streets  of  Pekin  every  da}'  to  col- 
lect the  bodies  of  infants,  martyrs  of  infanticide;  if  a  Chi- 
nese sailor  fall  overboard,  he  is  allowed  to  perish  without 
any  effort  to  save  him ;  in  India  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  infants,  mostly  females,  were  thrown  into  the  sacred 
Ganges  to  be  devoured  hy  the  crocodiles ;  in  Madagascar, 
New  Granada  and  Greenland,  if  the  mother  dies  during 
or  after  confinement,  the  living  child  is  buried  with  her ; 
and  in  Africa  the  wives  and  female  infants  are  frecpiently 
buried  alive  with  the  head  of  the  Aimily.  With  such  ideas 
of  the  value  of  human  life,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that 
abortion  is  fearfulh'  j)revalent?  In  Polynesia  and  among 
the  Indians  of  our  own  continent  the  crime  is  common. 
Plato  advocated  the  i^rocuring  of  abortion  in  the  "  Kepub- 
lic" ; '  Aristotle  taught  that  no  child  should  be  permitted 
to  be  born  alive  whose  mother  was  more  than  forty  or 
whose  father  was   more  than  fifty   years   of  age."    The 

"Lib.  V. 

«"Polit.,"lib.  vii.,  c.  17. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  271 

Athenian  mother  placed  her  new-born  child  at  the  feet  of 
its  father,  who  decided  upon  its  lot,  though  the  semblance 
of  legality  was  usually  followed  by  calling  in  five  neighbors 
as  a  sort  of  court.  Deformed  children,  girls,  and  those  of 
the  inferior  classes  were  thus  frequentl}^  condemned  to 
death. 

The  teachings  of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Koman  philoso- 
phers resulted  so  disastrously  that  it  became  necessary  to 
denounce  the  practice,  and  this  was  vehemently  done  by 
Ovid,'  Seneca,'  and  by  Juvenal.^  In  one  "satire,"  after 
praising  the  exemi)lary  patience  with  which  the  matrons 
of  the  lower  classes  bore  the  pains  of  labor  and  the  fatigues 
of  nursing,  he  upbraids  the  ladies  of  fashion  with  their 
unwillingness  to  submit  to  these  duties.  "You'll  scarce 
hear  tell,"  says  Juvenal,  "of  a  lying-in  among  ladies  of 
quality,  such  is  the  poAver  of  art,  such  the  force  of  medicines 
prepared  by  the  midwife  to  cause  barrenness  and  abortion. " 

"Sed  jacet  aurato  vix  ulla  puerpera  lecto. 
Tantum  artes  hujus,  tantum  medicaniina  possunt, 
Quae  steriles  facit,  atque  homines  in  ventre  necandos 
Conducit." 

Rome  was  filled  with  abortionists,  the  crime  prevailing, 
as  in  our  own  day,  chieflj'  among  the  so-called  upper 
classes  of  society,  and  infanticide  continued  to  prevail  in 
Rome  until  the  epoch  of  Ulpian  (in  a.d.  205) ,  who  repressed 
it  with  severe  penalties.  Throughout  these  several  nations 
in  the  difi'erent  centuries  many  millions  of  lives  have  been 
sacrificed,  some  of  which,  no  doubt,  would  have  been  of 
priceless  value  to  the  world.  The  recorded  experience 
of  those  times,  while  shocking  us,  leads  us  to  consider  the 
advance  which  we  have  made  in  the  same  direction. 

Prevalence  of  the  Crime  To-day. — With  the  present  stand- 

'"Amor,"  lib.  ii. 
8"Consol.  ad.  Helv.,"  16. 
'Satire  vi.,  591-596. 


272  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

ard  of  health  iu  civilized  societj^  one  pregnancy  out  of  eveiy 
five  results  in  accidental  abortion,  and  ninety  per  cent  of 
married  women  sniier  such  a  mishap  at  least  once  during 
their  child-bearing  life.  So  frequently  does  this  accident 
occur  unintentionally  and  regrettably  that  one  must  be  ex- 
ceedingly loth  to  impute  wrong  motives  to  a  woman  when- 
ever he  may  have  cause  to  believe  that  she  has  so  suffered. 
But  with  every  allowance  for  the  great  frequenc}'  of  ac- 
cidental abortion,  it  is  well  recognized,  by  those  who  are 
in  a  position  to  know,  that  the  intentional  and  unnecessary 
destruction  of  the  foetus  represents  a  carnage  of  such  vast 
proportions  as  to  be  almost  beyond  belief.  There  is  no 
darker  page  in  history  than  the  record  of  this  sin,  and 
probably  at  no  period  has  the  slaughter  been  greater  than 
in  our  own  times.  The  results  to  our  own  country  and  to 
the  world  at  large  have  been  disasti'ous  to  the  last  degree, 
and  with  the  spread  of  atrocious  advertising  by  abortion- 
ists, and  the  open  disi)lay  and  sale  of  alleged  abortifacient 
nostrums  bj^  the  druggists,  one  cannot  wonder  at  the  fact 
that  it  is  alarmingly  on  the  increase. 

The  consultation-rooms  of  physicians  are  in  reality  con- 
fessionals, wherein,  trusting  in  the  known  inviolability  of  a 
doctor's  confidence,  the  patients  daily  tell  of  their  mis- 
deeds, led  to  do  so  by  the  desire  to  aid  in  their  bodily 
cure.  Statistics  never  have  been  and  never  can  be  pub- 
lished showing  the  frequency  of  the  crime,  and  our  only 
evidence  must  be  by  confession,  for  the  deed  is  done 
secretly ;  the  mother  of  course  seeks  to  hide  her  shame, 
and  cannot  be  compelled  by  the  law  to  testify  against  her- 
self, and  the  abortionist  takes  good  care  to  stop  up  the 
keyhole  and  the  chinks  of  the  door  if  his  treatment  room. 
It  is  only  hj  the  testimony  of  many  hundreds  of  physicians 
that  we  can  gain  a  fair  idea  of  the  frequency  of  the  crime. 

Countless  thousands  of  abortions  occur  that  are  never 
returned  as  such  to  the  Health  Bureau.  Many  a  death 
from  abortion  is  reported  as  being  due  to  heart  failure, 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  273 

anremia,  syncope,  inflammation  of  tlie  bowels,  peritonitis, 
pelvic  abscess,  kidnej-  diseases,  embolism,  etc.  It  is  a 
very  difficult  matter,  in  fact,  to  prove  tliat  an  early  abor- 
tion lias  occurred  before  the  positive  signs  of  pregnancy 
have  been  distinguished,  €.(j.,  the  sounds  of  the  foetal  heart, 
"quickening,"  and  " ballottement, "  or  the  actual  feeling  of 
the  foetus  within  the  womb  by  the  physician. 

We  physicians,  nevetheless,  are  constantly-  called  upon 
to  attend  women  who  are  aborting  or  who  have  aborted. 
We  know  criminal  abortion  to  be  prominent  among  the 
great  vices  of  the  day,  and  it  has  increased  so  rapidh'  in 
our  day  and  generation  that  it  has  created  surprise  and 
alarm  in  the  minds  of  all  conscientious  persons  who  are 
informed  of  the  extent  to  which  it  is  carried.  A  verj-  great 
number  of  abortions  occur  which  are  iDurjiosely  concealed 
even  from  the  knowledge  of  i:)hysicians,  but  in  most  cases 
the  women  are  eventually  compelled  to  apply  for  surgical 
treatment,  and  to  confess  the  origin  of  their  ailments. 

Prior  to  1840  the  testimony  of  American  physicians  is 
that  criminal  abortion  was  not  practised  very  generally, 
and  to  but  a  slight  extent  by  married  women;  but  this 
verification  has  now  all  been  changed. 

The  "Report  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Criminal 
Abortion"  ' — committee,  Edward  Cox,  H.  O.  Hitchcock,  S. 
S.  French — contains  this  startling  passage : 

"  To  so  great  an  extent  is  this  [abortion]  now  practised 
by  American  Protestant  women  that,  by  calculation  of  one 
of  the  committee,  based  upon  correspondence  with  nearly 
one  hundred  physicians,  there  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  profession  seventeen  abortions  to  every  one  hundred 
pregnancies ;  to  these  the  committee  believe  ma^'  be  added 
as  manj-  more  that  never  come  to  the  physician's  knowl- 
edge, making  thirty-four  per  cent,  or  one-third,  of  all  cases 
ending  in  miscarriage ;  that  in  the  United  States  the  num- 
ber is  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand,  and  the  num- 
'  Transactions  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health,  p.  165. 

18 


274  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

ber  of  women  wiio  die  from  its  immediate  effects  not  less 
than  six  thousand  per  annum." 

Dr.  W.  A.  Chandler,  a  physician  of  over  thirty  years' 
practice,  has  been  quoted  as  saying  that  he  believed  that 
more  than  one-half  of  the  human  race  died  before  birth, 
and  that  three-fourths  of  these  were  abortions  by  intent. 

Edward  Cox,  M.D.,  President  of  the  Michigan  State 
Medical  Societ}^  says : 

"A  combination  of  circumstances  has  produced  a  de- 
praved and  debauched  x^ublic  sentiment  that  not  only  winks 
at  but  condones,  palliates,  and  defends  the  crime.  It  goes 
further  in  mau}^  instances ;  it  recognizes  the  abortionist  as 
a  useful  member  of  society,  and  even  extols  him  as  a  bene- 
factor. It  will  take  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  pre- 
cept, facts,  figures,  and  eloquence,  to  overcome  this  false 
and  pernicious  sentiment.  Yet  it  must  be  overcome  before 
we  can  make  the  least  progress  in  the  much-needed  refor- 
mation." ' 

Some  abortionist  is  found  in  every  town  and  village,  and 
the  crime  is  not  limited  to  any  section  or  country.  No  one 
for  an  instant  supposes  that  the  procreative  ability  of  man- 
kind has  very  materially"  lessened  within  the  past  genera- 
tion; yet  it  needs  no  verj-  careful  scrutiny  to  observe  that 
the  standard  size  of  our  families  has  fallen  from  what  the 
average  used  to  be  in  recent  generations.  An  American 
family  nowadays  too  often  consists  of  a  husband  and  Avife, 
with  i^erhaps  a  child  or  two — not  often  more  than  three  or 
four  children.  Such  are  the  recent  statistics,  and  the  cause 
cannot  be  referred  to  a  lessened  fecundity  of  the  men  and 
women.  The  reason  can,  however,  not  infrequently  be 
found  in  one  of  three  causes:  (a)  either  one  or  both  of 
the  married  parties  have  been  rendered  sterile,  usually 
from  a  gonorrhoea  which  was  thought  to  be  cured ;  (h)  or 
criminal   abortion   is   performed;    (r)    or  expedients   are 

'  Transactions  of  the  Michigan  Medical  Society,  Lansing,  1879, 
p.  369. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  275 

adopted  for  the  prevention  of  conception.  In  passing  we 
may  say  that  even  this  latter  procedure  is  a  curse  to  the 
good  health  and  the  morals  of  both  parties,  and  that  there 
is  no  harmless  way  in  which  to  prevent  conception.  A 
hoine  without  the  prattle  of  children  is  the  most  dreary, 
lonely  and  melancholy  of  households,  only  too  frequently 
disordered  by  estrangements  and  jealousies  and  inconstan- 
cies. To  be  "barren,"  or  "sterile,"  without  "issue,"  is 
the  greatest  of  griefs  in  a  normal  marriage  relationship. 

As  many  as  twenty  years  ago  Dr.  Nathan  Allan,  of 
Massachusetts,  pointed  out  "that  the  native  American 
stock  of  that  State  seemed  to  be  dying  out."  "VMiereas 
one  hundred  years  ago  it  was  common  to  see  families  with 
from  six  to  ten  children,  he  said  that  at  the  time  of  which 
he  spoke  it  was  rare  to  find  a  family  of  three  children,  and 
not  unusual  to  find  only  one  child  or  none  at  all.  And, 
further,  the  same  authority  showed  that  in  those  towns  in 
which  the  American  families  predominated  the  rate  of  birth 
was  less  than  the  death-rate,  and  that  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation was  left  to  those  of  recent  foreign  origin. 

Our  large  families  are  more  apt  to  be  found  among  Koman 
Catholics  and  those  Avho  have  recently  emigrated  to  this 
country. 

In  fairness  to  the  Roman  Church  it  must  be  said  to  its 
glory  that  its  women  rarelj-  resort  to  this  crime,  the  priests 
giving  the  soundest  of  teaching  to  their  parishioners  on 
these  vital  points,  as  follows : 

"  That  the  destruction  of  the  embryo  at  anj^  period  from 
the  first  instant  of  conception  is  a  crime  equal  in  guilt  to 
that  of  murder ;  that  to  admit  its  practice  is  to  open  the 
way  for  the  most  unbridled  licentiousness,  and  to  take 
away  the  responsibility  of  maternity  is  to  destroy  one  of 
the  strongest  bulwarks  of  female  virtue." 

The  private  spiritual  and  hygienic  directions  which  are 
given  in  the  "  confessionals"  by  men  who  are  usually  intel- 
ligent and  saintly  are  undoubtedly  of  great  value  to  certain 


276  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

classes  of  people  wlio  are  incapable  of  judging  rightly  for 
themselves. 

"  It  is  not,  of  course,  intended  to  imply  that  Protestant- 
ism, as  such,  in  any  way  encourages,  or  indeed  permits, 
the  practice  of  inducing  abortion;  its  tenets  are  uncom- 
promisingly hostile  to  all  crime.  So  great,  however,  is 
the  i:)opular  ignorance  regarding  this  offence  that  an  ab- 
stract morality  is  here  comparatively  i^owerless ;  and  there 
can  bo  no  doubt  that  the  Komish  ordinance,  flanked  on  the 
one  hand  by  the  confessional,  and  bj'  denouncement  and 
excommunication  on  the  other,  has  saved  to  the  world 
thousands  of  infant  lives."  ' 

And  again  let  us  quote  from  the  report  of  the  Special 
Committee  on  Criminal  Abortion: 

"  It  is  well  known  that  in  this  country  the  faithful  minis- 
trations of  the  Catholic  clergy  j)revent  the  commission  of 
the  crime  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  very  seldom  com- 
mitted by  a  Catholic  married  woman,  and  the  committee 
believes  that  if  the  Protestant  clergy  would  proi)erly  pre- 
sent the  subject  to  their  congregations,  Avith  the  assistance 
of  the  i^ress  and  other  auxiliaries,  the  crime  would  soon 
become  as  rare  among  the  Protestant  as  the  Catholic  wo- 
men. But  the  clergy  claimed  to  be  ignorant  on  this  sub- 
ject. They  must  therefore  be  instructed  and  urged  on  to 
their  duties  l\y  agitating  it  through  the  i)ress  and  in  as- 
semblies like  this  and  others  of  which  we  have  spoken. 
The  press  needs  educating  almost  as  much  as  the  clergj^ 
before  it  can  place  the  subject  in  an  intelligent  manner  be- 
fore its  readers."  * 

The  daily  press  is  largely  responsible  for  the  increasing 
frequency  of  this  crime  by  permitting  the  obscene  adver- 
tisements of  charlatans  and  abortionists  to  appear,  dis- 
gustingly aiding  in  the  work  of  criminal  malpractice  and 

'  Storer,  Essay,  p.  42. 

*  Transactions  of  the  Michigan  State  Board  of  Health,  1881,  p. 
166. 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  277 

being  most  efficient  accessories  in  this  abhorrent  iniquity'' 
of  foeticide.  It  is  the  price  of  hlood.  If  tlie  dail}'  papers 
would  consent  to  give  up  the  fees  received  for  advertising 
this  class  of  work  in  their  "personal  columns,"  thej'  could 
do  more  to  abolish  it  than  all  other  agencies  combined,  and 
if  they  will  not  voluntarily  do  so  the  responsibility  will 
then  rest  on  the  legislatures  which  fail  to  enact  laws  to 
prevent  the  jiublic  press  from  i^rinting  suggestive  adver- 
tisements. These  avaricious  abortionists,  ignorant  pre- 
tenders, and  unprincipled  impostors  roam  over  the  country 
from  village  to  town,  putting  up  their  signs,  and  freely 
using  the  daily  papers  and  the  mails  to  allure  the  ignorant 
and  the  wicked  and  the  perverted  ones  of  the  community 
to  their  ruin. 

So  badly  does  Lombroso,  the  great  European  criminol- 
ogist, think  of  the  moral  laxity  of  our  laws  that,  with  per- 
fect truth,  he  says :  "  Another  occasional  offence,  specifically 
local,  is  abortion  in  the  United  States,  where  it  is  so  dif- 
fused that  public  opinion  has  ceased  to  condemn  it.  In 
proof,  we  have  the  advertisements  of  doctors  and  female 
midwives  who  practise  chiefly  in  this  branch  and  recom- 
mend their  establishments  in  newspapers  and  on  posters."' 

It  is  greatly  to  be  desired  that  Congress  shall  create  an 
additional  office  for  a  cabinet  minister,  who  shall  be  the 
director  of  a  national  bureau  of  health. 

We  have  cabinet  officers  to  advance  the  interests  of  agri- 
culture, the  postal  service,  and  our  internal  and  external 
policies,  but  no  national  influence  is  at  work  for  the  better- 
ment of  our  nation's  health  except  the  power  to  establish 
quarantine.  It  is  true  that  each  of  our  States  represents 
a  sovereignty  and  that  each  State  is  jealous  of  these  rights ; 
but,  nevertheless,  a  cabinet  officer  of  health  could  dissemi- 
nate knowledge  and  bring  about  much-needed  reforms. 

It  is  high  time,  indeed,  that  the  law  should  awake  to 
the  necessity  of  appointing  censors  or  supervisors  over  the 
'  Lombroso,  "  The  Female  Offender. " 


278  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

public  press ;  for  if  left  to  itself  there  is  every  reason  to 
believe  tliat  it  will  continue,  for  the  sake  of  the  blood- 
money,  to  aid  and  abet  the  traffic  in  human  life  by  admit- 
ting to  its  columns  the  advertisements  of  abortionists, 
baby-farmers,  procurers  and  brothels.  If  the  reader  is 
not  aware  of  the  truth  of  this,  it  is  simply  because  he  has 
failed  to  inform  himself ;  and  for  read}'  proof  he  is  referred 
to  the  daily  papers  of  our  large  cities.  All  the  papers  do 
not  sin  equally  in  this  respect;  but  if  the  reader  will  take 
the  trouble  to  send  for  specimen  copies,  especially  of 
Sunday  editions,  to  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  New  York,  Phila- 
delphia, Boston,  Washington,  Cincinnati,  or  any  other 
large  city,  he  will  see  innumerable  alluring  advertisements 
plainly  inserted  by  the  keepers  of  houses  of  assignation 
and  brothels  and  by  abortionists.  It  is  a  shame  that 
America  tolerates  such  journalism. 

In  the  personal  columns  of  these  pajjers  may  be  found 
such  matter  as  the  following :     "  Ladies  in  trouble  will  not 

regret    calling    at ";    "Mrs. ,    midwife,    receives 

ladies  in  trouble" ;  " Sanitarium,  j^erfect  seclusion,  fe- 
male diseases  a  specialty,  results  guaranteed" ;  "  Attention, 
ladies  ! pennyroyal  pills  are  the  best" ;  "  Belief  for  la- 
dies, in  sealed  letter  by  return  mail  for  tAventj'-five  stamps" ; 
"Women's     complaints    and     irregularities     successfully 

treated  by  old  Dr. . "     Along  with  these  there  are  the 

open  advertisements  of  "massage  parlors,"  which  are  per- 
haps worse  than  brothels,  and  of  "rubber  goods,"  and 
such  nostrums  as  claim  to  "  prevent"  disease  or  to  "  enlarge 
the  i:)arts,"  or  to  "restore  lost  vitality." 

The  medical  profession  looks  upon  this  ai)athy  of  the 
law-makers  with  utter  abhori-ence.  Of  course  there  is  no 
misunderstanding  these  advertisements  by  "  those  who  are 
in  trouble,"  and  of  course  the  remedies  advertised  are  sold 
merely  for  profit  and  not  from  philanthropic  motives,  be- 
ing utterly  inefficient,  but  nevertheless  the  minds  of  the 
community   become  poisoned;    pregnant  women    having 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  279 

tried  the  abortifacient  remedies  advertised  become  desper- 
.ate  after  their  failure  to  act,  and  seek  other  more  effective 
means,  until  they  succeed  in  their  undertaking.  Aborti- 
facient drugs  act  by  producing  violent  purgation  or  vomit- 
ing, and  maj^  so  inflame  the  stomach  and  intestines  as  to 
cause  death ;  none  of  them  are  safe,  and  none  are  ever  used 
by  physicians  even  for  the  purpose  of  producing  "  thera- 
peutic," or  necessary  abortion. 

Therapeutic,  or  Jiistijiahle  Abortion. — The  law  leaves  it 
entirely  to  the  judgment  of  the  medical  profession  to  de- 
termine when  it  is  necessary  and  warrantable  to  i:)roduce 
abortion.  No  wise  physician,  however,  would  bring  this 
about  except  after  deliberate  consultation  with  one  or  more 
fellow-practitioners  of  repute. 

There  is  no  immorality  in  producing  an  abortion  thera- 
peutically if  it  gives  a  chance  of  saving  the  life  of  the 
mother,  when,  if  it  were  not  done,  it  would  be  almost  cer- 
tain that  both  mother  and  child  would  perish. 

The  indications  for  therapeutic  abortion  appear  "  when- 
ever the  mother  is  suffering  from  disease  arising  from  the 
pregnancy  or  originating  before  it,  or  accidentally  occur- 
ring during  it,  which  imperils  her  life,  and  there  is  a  rea- 
sonable probability  that  she  will  recover  if  abortion  occur." ' 

Abortion  has  been  brought  on  in  the  interests  of  the 
mother  in  certain  diseases;  for  instance,  in  severe  affec- 
tions of  the  heart,  or  lungs,  or  kidneys,  when  acute  symp- 
toms supervene;  in  certain  forms  of  Bright's  disease  asso- 
ciated with  excessive  dropsy ;  in  cases  where  there  is  an 
enormous  distention  of  the  abdomen  from  twins  or  a 
superabundance  of  liquor  amnii ;  in  the  uncontrollable 
vomiting  of  pregnancy ;  in  pernicious  anemia ;  in  chorea 
and  convulsions ;  in  hemorrhages  from  the  uterus  due  to  a 
wrong  position  of  the  jilacenta  (j^lacenta  2Jrcevia} ;  in  ex- 
treme pelvic  deformity  where  it  would  be  impossible  for 
the  woman  to  bear  a  full-time  child;  and  in  certain  dis- 
'  Parvin,  "  Text-Book  on  Obstetrics, "  p.  603. 


280  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

placements  of  the  gravid  uterus  when  it  has  become  hv- 
carcerated  and  is  liable  to  gangrene. 

However,  the  attending  physicians  would  carefully  con- 
sider whether  the  woman's  condition  would  not  be  rendered 
more  threatening  by  the  induction  of  abortion,  and  they 
would,  in  every  case  where  possible,  defer  the  operation 
until  after  the  time  of  viability ;  and,  further,  in  cases  of 
pelvic  deformity  they  would  probably  allow  the  woman  to 
go  to  full  time  and  then  deliver  her  by  the  Caesarian  section 
or  by  the  operation  of  symphyseotomy. 

No  intelligent  critic  can  offer  any  valid  objection  to 
therai:)eutic  abortion  when  it  is  done  after  deliberation  and 
consultation,  and  the  law  in  every  civilized  community 
concedes  this  privilege  to  the  medical  profession. 

In  Catholic  countries  the  XJi'iests  are  called  in  as  consul- 
tants and  assume  a  i)art  of  the  responsibility. 

The  Ineffectual  Fta/iskment  of  the  Crime. — Judicial  in- 
vestigation has  proved  to  be  almost  totally  worthless  in 
regard  to  this  crime,  and  the  administration  of  justice  con- 
cerning it  is  jn-actically  a  dead  letter.  The  crime  being 
I)erpetrated  secretly  by  parties  whose  mutual  interest  it  is 
to  cover  up  their  guilt,  an  arrest  is  seldom  made  unless 
the  woman  dies,  while  juries,  reasoning  by  some  obscure 
psychological  process,  seldom  convict  the  abortionist. 
Except  toward  the  abortionist  we  can  hardly  in  mercy  ask 
for  the  severest  penalties  of  legislative  enactments ;  for  the 
father  can  rarely  be  touched,  and  the  woman  is  usually  in 
a  position  to  ask  who  shall  cast  the  first  stone  at  her.  The 
proofs  which  would  lead  to  substantiation  are  difficult  of 
demonstration,  and  the  community  verj^  properly  is  not 
disposed  to  visit  the  mother  with  great  harshness. 

Engelmann,  in  an  article  on  "Abortion,"  says: 

"Abortionists  everywhere  are  known.  In  the  larger 
cities  of  this  continent,  as  well  as  Europe,  they  achieve  a 
widespread  fame,  are  well  known,  and  yet  rarely,  if  ever, 
convicted.     It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  these  worst  of  crimi- 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  281 

nals  almost  invariably  escajje;  and  even  in  the  states  of 
Germany,  where  the  laws  are  strict  and  rigidly  enforced, 
where  the  crime  of  abortion  is  punished  by  imprisonment 
of  from  four  to  twenty  jears,  that  eminent  teacher  of  medi- 
cal jurisprudence,  J.  L.  Caspar,  sajs  that  of  all  the  many 
accused  never  a  one  was  condemned,  and  in  no  one  case 
was  the  crime  i^roven.  They  are  sheltered  by  the  words 
of  the  law  and  the  sympathy  of  the  community."  ' 

Laws  have  no  efficacy  unless  there  is  an  inclination  to 
obey  them;  when  this  inclination  is  firmly  established  in 
a  community  they  serve  merely  as  guide-posts.  If  the 
hearts  and  consciences  of  the  people  are  callous,  if  they 
cannot  see  the  expediency  and  justice  of  the  laws,  and  if 
public  opinion  does  not  sustain  the  decrees  of  the  bench, 
then  the  laws  are  dead  letters  and  should  be  stricken  from 
the  statute  books,  since  they  cannot  be  enforced. 

However  severe  the  laws  may  be  in  posse  they  have  had 
very  little  perceptible  effect  in  esse,  nor  is  this  to  be  won- 
dered at  when  we  consider  how  much  is  actuall}-  permitted 
to  be  done  to  encourage  licentiousness  by  the  toleration  of 
brothels,  impure  literature,  and  indecent  theatrical  shows. 
If  a  community  admits  the  untrue  physiological  propa- 
ganda that  sexual  license  is  necessary  for  the  men,  then  it 
will  be  imi^ossible,  as  the  results  have  shown,  to  compel  a 
girl  to  cherish  the  badge  of  her  shame  while  her  seducer 
goes  free.  Such  a  community  visits  all  the  jjenalties  upon 
the  mother  and  the  absolutely  innocent  child ;  so  that  the 
destruction  of  her  offspring  and  the  menace  to  her  health 
seem  no  more  to  be  feared  by  her  than  the  cruel  punish- 
ments which  the  double  standard  of  purity-  concerning 
the  sexes  visits  upon  bastardism  and  feminine  unchastity. 
Mankind  will  yet  be  governed  by  sentiments  of  love,  and 
society  will  yet  look  upon  the  pregnant  woman,  whether 
married  or  single,  as  sacred,  and  "  deal  gently  with  those 
that  are  with  j^oung." 

■  Pepper's  "  System  of  Medicine." 


282  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

Whatever  can  be  accomplished  iu  leading  the  pregnant 
woman  to  refrain  from  this  unnatural  crime  must  come 
from  education  and  that  alone ;  for  no  dread  of  future  pun- 
ishment in  time  or  eternity  seems  more  deterrent  to  her 
than  the  present  disgrace. 

While  pleading  for  mere}-  and  comfjassion  for  the  dis- 
graced woman  and  her  bastard  child — the  exact  opposite 
of  what  prevails — we  cannot  be  too  severe  on  the  heartless 
miscreants  who  are  permitted  to  ply  their  vile  trade  with 
comparative  impunity,  and  we  cannot  find  language  strong 
enough  to  express  our  detestation  for  the  laws  which  do 
not  protect  the  child  in  idero  until  "  quickening"  has  been 
acknowledged. 

"  There  is  not  a  household  in  the  land  or  in  the  civilized 
world  which  is  not  more  or  less  permeated  by  the  influence 
and  teaching  of  the  noble  science  which  we  practise,  and 
this  ignorance  of  the  law  of  life,  or  the  fact  of  life,  before 
quickening,  could,  if  we  were  sufficiently  alive  to  its  im- 
portance, be  utterly  done  away  with  and  wiped  ofi"  the  face 
of  the  earth  in  a  single  year.  Otherwise  good  women 
would  no  longer  boast  of  the  number  of  foetuses  they  had 
gotten  rid  of,  and  they  would  no  longer  teach  their  sisters 
how  they  could  accomplish  the  same  'innocent'  feat.  AVhen 
it  is  known  and  universally  acknowledged  that  to  extinguish 
the  first  spark  of  human  life  is  a  crime  of  the  same  nature, 
both  against  our  Maker  and  society,  as  it  is  to  destroy  an 
infant,  a  child,  or  a  man,  then,  and  not  until  then,  will 
abortion  cease  to  be  a  common  occurrence,  and  good  men 
and  women  become  readj'  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
their  own  deliberate  acts."  ' 

The  attorney-general  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts  re- 
ported the  arrests  and  trials  of  thirty -two  abortionists  dur- 
ing a  period  extending  over  eight  years,  and  not  one  single 
conviction  resulted.  Here  in  the  capital  of  the  nation  a 
notorious  abortionist  was  recenth"  found  guilty  by  a  jury, 
'  Joseph  Taber  Johnson,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  7. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  283 

and  sentenced  to  twenty  years'  penal  servitude  for  causing 
the  death  of  the  mother;  he  is  now  free  and,  it  is  thought, 
still  imbrues  his  hands  in  blood  with  impunity. 

The  proper  term  for  the  destruction  of  the  foetus  at  any 
stage  of  its  existence  is  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  the 
law  should  i)uuish  it  as  such.  Abortion  induced  before 
the  time  of  viability  of  the  foetus — i.e.,  before  the  sixth  or 
seventh  month^ — necessarily  contemplates  its  death,  and 
even  if  it  be  done  later  it  is  safe  to  say  that  where  it  is 
done  criminally  and  not  therapeutically  the  child  will  be 
allowed  to  perish.  The  arrests  of  abortionists  are  usuallj^ 
not  for  the  crime  intended  by  them,  but  for  bungling  work 
which  constitutes  a  double  murder,  the  mother  as  well  as 
the  child  dying  as  a  result  of  the  operation. 

The  Abortionist. — The  abortionist  fattens  on  the  law 
which  denominates  the  emptying  of  the  womb  of  a  preg- 
nant woman  merely  a  misdemeanor  before  "quickening" 
and  a  felony  only  thereafter.  Of  course  the  sensation  of 
"quickening"  is  denied  and  none  can  dispute  it.  The 
crime  is  committed  in  the  dark  without  witnesses,  and  the 
woman  is  under  oath  to  maintain  secrecy,  which,  being  a 
party  to  the  deed,  she  naturall}'  does,  with  the  occasional 
exceptions  of  death-bed  repentances.  Of  course  the  abor- 
tionist, for  his  own  selfish  reasons,  does  not  contemplate 
such  a  contingency  as  the  death  of  the  mother,  it  being  to 
his  interest  that  she  shall  survive ;  but  as  regards  the  foetus 
the  act  is  one  of  cool,  deliberate,  unrelenting  murder,  and 
the  mother  is  a  party  to  the  crime. 

What  sort  of  man  or  woman  is  it  to  whom  the  woman 
applies  for  relief? 

"  The  professional  abortionist  is  a  being  who  recognizes 
no  higher  law  than  his  own  base  interests,  whose  heart  has 
long  ceased  to  know  a  humane  feeling,  whose  soul  is 
freighted  with  abominable  crimes,  whose  hands  are  stained 
with  the  blood  of  innocent  children,  victims  of  his  foul  lust 
for  gain.     The  sentiments  of  our  common  humanity  revolt 


284  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

against  so  vile  a  wretcli.  Shall  lie  be  suffered  to  return  to 
liis  old  haunts  and  his  old  evil  ways,  with  appetite  whetted 
for  more  blood,  after  a  few  years  spent  in  prison?  All 
experience  utters  a  solemn  warning  against  so  blind  a 
policy."  ' 

The  father,  the  mother  and  the  abortionist,  who  connive 
at  the  murder  of  the  fostus,  are  devoid  of  all  reason,  all 
morality,  all  pit}-,  all  mercy,  and  all  love — destitute  of 
natural  instinct  and  regardless  of  all  law,  human  or  divine ; 
they  surely  incur  the  weight  of  a  tremendous  res^jonsibility 
before  God,  and  before  the  soul  of  the  innocent  babe,  to 
whom,  as  well  as  to  their  own  consciences,  they  must  be 
prei)ared  to  offer  a  future  explanation.  How  can  a  man  or 
woman,  abandoned  to  a  life  of  lasciviousness,  continue  in 
the  perverted  courses  of  vener}',  with  the  resolve  to  cheat 
Nature  of  her  just  dues,  without  incurring  the  wrath  to 
come?  Illegitimate  sexual  congress  is  sin,  not  only  moral 
sin,  but  a  natural  sin,  and  those  who  indulge  in  it  are 
"sin's  fools."  It  is  the  abortionist  who  tells  them  that 
chastit}'  is  prejudicial  to  health,  and  that  the  "relief" 
which  he  gives  is  of  advantage  to  society ;  and  he  is  the 
spontaneous  product  of  the  social  and  national  pandering 
to  vice  which  is  fanned  and  stimulated  by  the  immoral- 
ities and  indecencies  of  many  of  our  modern  amusements 
and  orgies. 

What  are  the  Bislcs  and  Dangers  Attendant  upon  the 
Crime  ? — Yery  momentous  ones  indeed ! 

Each  individual  organ,  and  especially  the  uterus,  of  a 
pregnant  woman  is  prepared  by  a  slow  and  gradual  change 
for  the  great  effort  which  is  to  occur  at  the  end  of  i^reg- 
nancy,  and  if  this  effort  be  prematurely  induced,  whether 
by  accident  or  design,  the  system  is  found  uui)repared  and 
theimiierfectly  developed  uterus  is  taken  at  a  disadvantage, 
so  that  it  cannot  contract  with  sufficient  force  to  completely 

'  "  Report  of  Special  Committee  on  Crimioal  Abortion, "  New  York 
Medico-Legal  Society,  1873. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  285 

expel  its  contents.  Abortion  may  result  accidentally  from 
blows,  falls,  wounds,  violent  coitus,  excessive  emotion, 
mental  shock,  etc. ;  or  it  may  be  done  therapeutically  in 
the  interests  of  the  mother's  life  or  health;  or  it  may  be 
brought  about  criminally  by  violence,  by  mechanical  injurj^ 
to  the  uterus  or  ovum,  or  possibly  by  the  use  of  certain 
drugs. 

Criminal  abortion  is  usually  done  at  some  period  be- 
tween the  third  and  sixth  month  of  pregnancy,  because 
before  the  lapse  of  three  months  there  is  no  aj^preciable 
enlargement,  so  that  the  woman  hopes  that  she  has  merely 
missed  her  menstrual  periods,  and  is  not  sure  that  she  is 
i:>regnant;  but  after  the  sixth  month  the  abdominal  en- 
largement is  so  evident  and  "  quickening"  so  active  that  it 
then  seems  to  her  like  deliberate  murder.  At  the  time  of 
normal  birth — i.e.,  at  the  end  of  the  two  hundred  and  eighty 
days — there  has  occurred  what  physiologists  call  a  "  fatty 
degeneration"  in  that  portion  of  the  jilaceuta  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  uterus,  whereby  it  may  be  expelled  whole  and 
Gutire,  thus  i)ermittiug  the  womb  to  contract  firmly,  pre- 
venting an  inordinate  flow  of  blood,  and  allowing  the  uterus 
to  rapidly  return  to  its  natural  comparatively  small  size  by 
a  process  called  "involution."  Any  deviation  from  this 
process  entails  a  chain  of  events  which  may  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  a  wide  range  of  serious  disorders,  such  as  positional 
displacements  of  the  uterus;  a  chronic  "subinvolution" 
which  keeps  up  a  continued  enlargement  and  engorgement 
of  the  womb;  leucorrhcea  and  copious  hemorrhages  which 
deplete  the  system ;  ovarian  neuralgia,  pains  in  the  back, 
thighs  and  head;  general  blood-poisoning  leading  to 
death;  pus  collections  in  the  ovaries.  Fallopian  tubes 
and  peritoneum ;  peritonitis  which  mats  the  pelvic 
organs  together  by  adhesive  bands ;  the  growth  of  polypi 
and  tumors,  and  various  other  serious  and  permanent 
disorders. 

It  is  rare  indeed  to  find  a  woman  who  will  confess  to  an 


^86  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS, 

abortion,  who  does  not  suffer  severely  and  protractedly  from 
its  results. 

An  accidental  abortion  or  miscarriage  is  safer  tlian  when 
a  criminal  operation  is  done,  because  in  the  former  the 
embryo  or  foetus  usually  dies  some  time  before  its  birth, 
and  the  fatty  degeneration  of  the  placenta  has  occurred 
which  sometimes  allows  the  free  expulsion  of  all  the  frag- 
ments ;  but  in  forced  abortions  done  with  criminal  intent 
the  dangers  are  more  grave.  In  the  latter  event  the  element 
of  time  is  eliminated  which  would  allow  the  placenta  to 
sei)arate  by  fatty  degeneration,  the  abortion  coming  on 
rapidly  without  any  chance  of  a  complete  emptying  of  the 
uterus;  serious  damage  is  often  done  to  the  mother  by 
lacerations  inflicted  by  instruments  in  the  hands  of  bun- 
gling operators,  and  then  sloughing,  mortification,  septi- 
caemia and  peritonitis  ensue.  In  addition  every  woman  is 
bound  to  feel  a  strong  compunction  for  this  unnatural 
deed,  x)ity  for  the  child  nestling  within  her  womb,  regret 
for  the  loss  of  her  babe  which  would  have  proved  so  dear 
to  her,  sorrow  and  shame  at  casting  from  her  the  product 
of  a  husband's  or  lover's  affection,  fear  of  the  law,  and  re- 
morse for  violating  the  sixth  commandment  of  God's  laws. 

There  is  no  wonder  then  at  the  frequency  with  which  her 
health  is  sacrificed  and  her  reason  overthrown. 

However  active  the  criminal  measures  may  be,  the  attempt 
is  by  no  means  always  followed  by  success ;  and  the  child 
may  be  born  at  the  natural  time  with  a  fractured  limb,  or 
blind,  or  paralyzed,  or  an  epileptic,  or  idiot. 

Here  is  one  deplorable  case : 

"A  lady,  determined  not  to  have  any  more  childi'en, 
went  to  a  professional  abortionist,  and  he  attempted  to 
effect  the  desired  end  by  violence.  With  a  pointed  instru- 
ment the  attempt  was  again  and  again  made,  but  without 
the  looked-for  result.  So  vigorously  was  the  effort  made 
that,  astonished  at  no  result  being  obtained,  the  individual 
stated  that  there  must  be  some  mistake,  that  the  lady  could 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  ^87 

not  be  pregnant,  and  refused  to  perform  any  further  opera- 
tions. Partially  from  doubt  and  i)artially  from  fear,  noth- 
ing further  was  attempted,  and  in  due  ijrocess  of  time  the 
woman  was  delivered  of  an  infant,  shockingl^^  mutilated, 
with  one  eye  entirely  put  out  and  the  brain  so  injured  that 
this  otherwise  robust  child  was  entirely  wanting  in  ordi- 
nary sense.  This  j)oor  mother,  it  would  seem,  needs  no 
future  punishment  for  her  sin.  Ten  years  face  to  face 
with  this  poor  infant,  whose  imbecility  was  her  direct 
work — has  it  not  punished  her  sufficient!}'  ?"  ' 

Abortions  are  liable  to  occur  with  increasing  frequency 
after  one  has  taken  place,  and  the  possibilities  of  impreg- 
nation, owing  to  the  diseased  condition  of  the  woman's 
reproductive  organs,  are  more  remote,  so  that  even  though 
she  may  subsequently  desire  children  she  may  then  be 
sterile.  In  addition,  the  lives  of  children  born  subse- 
quently are  more  ax^t  to  be  embittered  by  unhealthy,  dis- 
eased and  deformed  bodies. 

Women  are  destined  by  Providence  to  bear  children;  it 
is  their  natural  ro?e  and  they  should  submit  to  it.  Either 
let  them  and  the  men  totally  abstain  from  coition  or  else 
consent  to  be  mothers  and  fathers.  Most  women  entertain 
the  belief  that  the  earlier  the  abortion  occurs  the  more 
trivial  are  the  consequences;  but  every  obstetrician  will 
testify  that  he  would  far  rather  attend  a  full-time  labor 
than  an  abortion,  and  that  he  fears  the  latter  the  less  the 
nearer  the  woman  is  advanced  toward  the  full  term  of 
gestation. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  up  to  the  end  of  the  third 
month  the  placenta  and  chorion  are  firmly  attached  to  the 
walls  of  the  uterus,  and  thus  an  abortion  occurring  before 
the  completion  of  this  period  is  almost  certain  to  terminate 
in  what  is  called  an  "incomplete  abortion,"  with  retention 
of  fragments  of  the  ovum,  so  that  profuse  hemorrhage  and 
grave  septic  conditions  are  almost  certain  to  follow  unless 
'Grander,  "Conjugal  Sins,"  p.  138. 


288  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

the  patient  falls  uucler  tlie  care  of  a  skilful  surgeon.  In  a 
case  of  impending  abortion,  until  some  portions  of  tlie 
ovum  have  been  expelled,  the  in-actitioner  considers  it  as  a 
"  threatened  abortion"  and  does  his  best  to  avert  it  by  ap- 
propriate treatment,  continued  for  a  few  days  until  all  the 
threatening  symptoms  have  passed;  and  many  a  woman 
who  has  sought  the  seclusion  of  hospital  treatment  has, 
much  to  her  disgust  and  disapi)ointment,  had  the  miscar- 
riage averted. 

But  if  the  abortion  becomes  "inevitable,"  a  different 
policy  must  be  assumed. 

The  patient  must  be  put  under  the  influence  of  ether  or 
chloroform  and  submitted  to  a  regular  surgical  operation, 
and  for  this  the  most  scrupulously  painstaking  prepara- 
tions must  be  made.  A  degree  of  cleanliness  must  be  at- 
tained never  thought  of  by  the  most  careful  housewife — the 
object  in  view  being  to  render  the  pdd  of  the  operation,  the 
insfnime}its,  the  hands  of  the  surgeon  and  of  his  assistants 
and  nurses,  and  everything  which  might  touch  the  area  to 
be  operated  upon,  absolutely  free  from  those  microscopic 
vegetable  organisms  which  are  the  cause  of  putrefaction 
and  sei)tic8emia. 

All  the  minutice  of  this  surgical  technique  cannot  be  here 
explained,  but  some  idea  can  be  given  by  the  following 
short  description : 

The  hands  and  arms  of  the  operator  and  his  assistants 
are  thoroughlj-  scrubbed  for  five  or  ten  minutes  with  a  stiff 
brush  and  hot  soap-suds  and  water,  the  finger-nails  are  cut 
close  and  carefully  cleaned,  and  then  the  hands  and  arms 
are  soaked  for  several  minutes  in  some  powerful  germicide 
solution,  such  as  a  strong  solution  of  permanganate  of 
potash  followed  by  a  dip  in  oxalic-acid  solution,  in  abso- 
lute alcohol,  in  a  solution  of  bichloride  of  mercury,  1 : 1,000, 
or  in  some  other  antiseptic  known  to  be  effective. 

The  instruments,  the  towels  and  the  dressings  have  all 
been  rendered  absolutely  "sterile"  by  either  boiling,  or 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  289 

baking  tLem  in  an  oven,  or  exposing  tliem  to  siiperlieated 
steam. 

The  patient  lias  been  prepared  for  the  operation  by  ap- 
propriate medical  treatment,  and  the  parts  adjacent  to  the 
field  of  operation  have  been  scrubbed  with  hot  soap-suds 
and  irrigated  with  an  antiseptic  or  boiled  water.  The 
body  and  limbs  of  the  patient  are  then  covered  with  several 
wet,  sterilized  towels,  and,  the  anaesthesia  being  attended 
to  by  an  assistant  who  does  nothing  else,  all  is  ready  for 
the  operation.  The  preparations  occupy  far  more  time 
and  trouble  than  the  operation  itself,  and  no  less  degree  of 
care  and  skill  is  rec^uired  than  a  surgeon  would  employ  in 
trephining  the  skull. 

After  the  ojoeration  the  patient  is  not  permitted  to  leave 
her  bed  for  at  least  a  week,  while  rest  and  quiet  are  en- 
joined for  several  days  more  until  the  uterus  has  regained 
its  normal  size  and  position,  and  the  raw  surface  within  it 
has  entirely  healed. 

With  all  these  jjrecautions,  done  by  skilful  hands,  dili- 
gently watched  by  a  skilled  surgeon,  and  treated  by  rest 
in  bed,  good  nursing,  and  a  watchful  expectancy  against 
sepsis,  the  operation  is  usually  unattended  by  evil  conse- 
quences; but,  fortunately^  the  necessity  for  resorting  to 
therapeutic  abortion  is  now  extremely  infrequent  since 
modern  surgical  advances  have  made  the  Cgesarean  section 
and  symphyseotomy  so  safe,  though  the  reputable  doctor 
is  frequently  called  upon  to  take  charge  of  a  case  immedi- 
ately after  the  attemj)t  has  been  made  by  the  abortionist. 

How  different  are  the  procedures  and  the  subsequent  his- 
tory of  the  case  if  the  abortion  have  been  done  criminally  ! 

In  this  event  a  serious  operation  is  done  by  stealth,  with 
no  preliminary  prejiarations,  by  an  operator  who  is  no 
surgeon,  heartless,  immoral,  with  hands  reeking  with  the 
blood  of  other  misdeeds,  and  wdth  no  assistants,  upon  a 
patient  who  is  desperate,  disgraced,  abandoned,  and  per- 
haps exhausted  by  her  efforts  at  concealment, 
19 


290  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

The  woman,  having  probably  sought  some  reputable 
physician  to  relieve  her  and  having  been  refused,  seeks  an 
advertising  abortionist  or  ignorant  midwife,  and  in  many 
instances  even  operates  upon  herself.  Everything  is  done 
with  a  total  disregard  for  all  surgical  rules,  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  patient,  in  the  preparation  of  the  charlatan's 
hands  and  instruments,  and  in  the  subsequent  care  and 
treatment  of  the  case.  The  abortionist  desires  the  fee  and 
nothing  else,  except  that  the  woman  shall  not  die — her 
shattered  health  being  a  matter  of  no  concern  to  the  coarse 
and  unskilful  brute. 

The  desperate  and  exhausted  woman,  embarrassed  at  the 
necessity  for  concealment,  arriAes  alone,  often  after  a  long 
journey,  with  no  friend  or  witness,  at  the  wretched  office 
of  this  foul  man,  or  woman,  and  bargains  over  the  life  of 
the  babe  within  her  womb.  Preparations  for  the  operation 
would  excite  suspicion,  so  there  are  none.  The  clandestine 
operator,  ignorant  of  anatomy  and  surgical  technique, 
clumsily  passes  a  dirty  and  septic  catheter,  or  other  in- 
strument, into  the  womb  and  ruptures  the  ovum.  The 
vagina  is  then  stuffed  with  cotton  to  conceal  the  hemor- 
rhage, and  the  womac,  having  paid  the  largest  fee  which 
can  be  extracted  from  her,  is  told  to  depart,  never  to  return 
until  she  again  requires  similar  treatment. 

After  a  long  journey  in  a  cab  or  street-car  or  train,  she 
reaches  home,  in  bad  condition  indeed,  but  continues  about 
her  usual  duties  as  unconcernedlj'  as  possible,  lest  she  excite 
suspicion.  Within  a  few  hours  "labor  pains"  come  on, 
and  she  takes  to  her  bed  with  the  excuse  of  having  cramps 
in  the  bowels  or  perhaps  painful  menstruation.  After  a 
few  hours,  or  i^erhajjs  a  couple  of  days,  "something" 
passes,  and  if  it  is  a  formed  foetus  she  hides  it  and  either 
burns  it  or  throws  it  down  the  sewer.  Portions  of  the 
placenta  and  chorion  are  sure  to  remain  firmly  fixed  to  the 
walls  of  the  uterus,  but  she  is  ignorant  of  that.  After  the 
severe  pains  have  subsided  she  gets  up  and  resumes  her 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION.  291 

ordinary  duties,   flattering   herself,   or  perhaps   telling  a 
confidential  friend,  that  everything  is  now  all  right. 

For  two  or  three  days  things  continue  to  go  fairly  well 
and  she  begins  to  laugh  at  the  doctor  who  had  i^leaded 
with  her  and  had  frightened  her  with  the  dangers  which 
menaced  her. 

But  now  her  plight  becomes  worse  and  she  is  compelled 
to  take  to  her  bed  with  alarming  symi:)toms ;  a  reputable 
physician  is  called  and  the  confession  made.  He  finds  her 
to  be  in  a  critical  condition,  with  a  fever  ranging  between 
104°  to  105°  Fahrenheit;  the  tissues  of  the  ovum  which 
were  retained  have  become  infected,  the  hemorrhagic  dis- 
charge is  extremely  ofi'ensive  and  putrid,  and  she  shows 
the  sj^mptoms  of  jjeritonitis  and  general  blood-poisoning, 
which  conditions  may  directly  destroy  her  life,  or  result  in 
serious  and  permanent  pelvic  disease. 

In  many  instances  such  patients  are  compelled  to  submit 
to  severe  mutilating  operations  whereby  the  abdomen  must 
be  cut  oi)en  for  the  puri:)ose  of  evacuating  collections  of  pus 
from  the  pelvic  tissues,  and  for  the  removal  of  suppurating 
Fallopian  tubes  and  ovaries.  Such  are  of  course  rendered 
sterile,  and  others  apply  for  relief  so  late  that  there  is  little 
chance  of  saving  their  lives. 

"  Convalescence  is  generally  prolonged  from  these  causes ; 
and  the  patient  has  many  weeks,  and  i)erhaps  months,  if 
not  years,  of  invalidism  in  which  to  regret  the  errors  of  an 
ill-spent  hour.  Our  free  dispensaries  and  charity  hospitals 
afford  innumerable  examples  of  broken  constitutions  and 
ruined  lives  which  have  had  their  sad  beginning  in  an  im- 
properly treated  abortion.  Frequenters  of  our  gynaeco- 
logical  clinics  often  state  that  the  displacements  or  inflam- 
mations of  the  uterus  from  which  they  suffer  date  back  to 
abortions  occurring  three,  five,  or  ten  years  previously. 
Many  of  the  cases  now  operated  on  for  otherwise  incurable 
pus  tulies  or  chronic  inflammatory  disease  of  the  ovaries 
date  all  their  troubles  back  to  a  neglected  abortion.     These 


292  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

sufferings  are  not  all  confined  to  the  cliarit}'^  patients  in  tlie 
lower  walks  of  life.  They  are  as  common  as  is  the  custom 
of  abortion  itself.  No  one  rank  in  society  appropriates 
them  all.  The  experience  of  gynaecologists  the  world  over 
will  confirm  the  statement  that  a  majority  of  the  patients 
that  we  are  called  upon  to  treat  in  our  offices  or  in  the  fine 
residences  of  their  fair  owners  are  the  outcome  of  abor- 
tions or  of  the  preventive  measures  against  conception."  ' 

Mau}-^  a  woman,  on  the  other  hand,  feels  fairly  well  soon 
after  an  abortion,  except  that  she  is  pale  and  bloodless  and 
easily  fatigued.  Probably'  however,  within  a  few  weeks 
she  will  be  compelled  to  ajiply  for  relief  to  a  physician,  who 
will  find  upon  examination,  serious  pelvic  trouble;  there 
will  probably  be  a  copious  leucorrhoeal  discharge,  the  uter- 
us will  be  enlarged,  soft  and  tender,  and  often  misplaced 
and  bound  down  in  abnormal  position  b}^  dense  cicatricial 
bands  of  connective  tissue ;  the  ovaries  and  Fallopian  tubes 
will  probably  be  exquisitely  tender  and  perhaps  disor- 
ganized into  pus-sacs;  inflammation  of  the  bladder  is  a 
common  comi)lication,  and  the  sejitic  infection  not  iuire- 
quently  damages  the  kidneys.  These  i)itiless  consequences 
follow  upon  what  she  y)erliaps  thought  a  trivial  amorous- 
ness, and  the  bad  beginning  is  followed  by  a  miserable 
ending. 

The  wretched  woman,  having  stooped  to  such  an  unnat- 
ural sin,  feels  a  deep  remorse,  and  no  verdict  of  her  own 
can  ever  acquit  her  of  guilt. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  woman  will  be  a  sad  one. 
She  will  probably  never  be  entirely  well  again.  Her  men- 
strual periods  will  be  attended  with  an  undue  loss  of  blood 
and  with  acute  suffering.  She  will  probably  suffer  with 
incontinence  of  urine,  wdth  continual  "spotting"  of  blood 
for  weeks  at  a  time,  and  perhaps  from  a  tumor  within  the 
womb — either  a  "polyp"  or  a  "fibroid  tumor."  If  she 
ever  desires  to  become  ijregnant  again  and  bear  a  child, 
'Joseph  Taber  Johnson,  loc.  cit.,  p.  10. 


CRIMINAL  ABOETION.  293 

she  is  likely  to  be  either  sterile  or  to  lose  the  products  of 
conception  by  an  abortion  or  miscarriage;  for  one  of  these 
calamities  prediposes  to  another,  and  so  on  in  increasing 
ratio. 

In  a  spontaneous  or  natural  abortion,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  results  are  not  often  so  serious,  and  where  there  has 
been  skilled  medical  attendance  it  is  practically  devoid  of 
danger.  Even  after  a  criminal  abortion,  if  the  woman 
were  to  ai)i)ly  for  efficient  medical  treatment  at  once,  the 
results  would  not  often  be  so  serious,  though,  as  a  rule, 
the  dirtj^  instruments  which  have  been  used  upon  her  have 
done  irreparable  mischief.  No  place  could  be  more  favor- 
able for  the  growth  of  septic  organisms  than  the  warm, 
moist  cavity  of  the  uterus,  rendered  especially  vascular 
and  succulent  by  the  pregnancy. 

Of  course  the  operation  of  criminal  abortion,  however 
skilful]}"  it  might  be  done  even  by  a  trained  surgeon,  means 
for  the  foetus  death  and  murder,  and,  as  it  is  almost  inva- 
riably practised,  it  means  for  the  woman  the  ruin  of  her 
health  and  character,  and  the  jeoj)ardy  of  her  life. 

The  man  who  got  her  into  this  trouble  and  then  aban- 
doned her,  cutting  loose  from  all  the  promptings  of  con- 
science, is,  of  course,  a  x^artner  with  her  in  guilt  and  re- 
sponsibility, and  all  the  oceans  of  the  world  cannot  cleanse 
him  from  blood-guiltiness.  Any  argument  whatsoever 
which  might  be  brought  forward  for  its  being  sometimes 
necessary  and  expedient  may  be  answered  by  the  reply 
that  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death." 

Our  sympathy  for  the  seduced  woman,  under  a  cloud  of 
shame  and  with  a  mind  bordering  on  insanity,  is  great; 
but  for  the  man  who  drives  her  to  this  guilt  and  danger,  it 
is  well  that  a  merciful  God  is  the  judge. 

Very  often,  indeed,  the  results  of  a  criminal  abortion  are 
immediately  fatal  from  a  variety  of  causes,  and  the  medical 
and  lay  press  teems  with  the  reports  of  such  cases ;  and  yet 
the  women   continue  to  allow  themselves  to  be  practised 


294  .        HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

upon  with  reckless  abandon  by  these  unscrupulous  vul- 
tures, who  are  permitted  by  the  apathy  of  the  law  to  adver- 
tise themselves  and  to  exist  in  every  community.  Of  course 
the  women  who  seek  relief  from  pregnancy  abhor  these 
fiendish  abortionists,  and  rarely  apply  to  them  until  they 
have  been  refused  assistance  in  their  wicked  work  bj^  some 
reputable  physician.  The  position  of  physicians  is  indeed 
unique ;  no  other  class  of  men  are  urged  to  commit  murder 
as  they  are,  but  these  temptations,  which  are  presented  to 
every  doctor,  should  be  put  aside  luitliout  exception.  No 
argument  which  the  woman  may  offer  to  save  her  from  dis- 
grace, no  appeal  to  his  sympathies,  no  fee  which  might  ex- 
cite his  avarice,  should  lead  him  to  commit  this  crime 
against  human  and  divine  law.  "  Heart's  blood  weigJis  too 
heavily." 

"Every  man  who  undertakes  the  practice  of  medicine  is 
met  upon  the  threshold  of  his  career  by  what  I  do  not  hes- 
itate to  pronounce  one  of  the  most  powerful,  baneful,  dam- 
ning combinations  of  temptations  that  can  possibly  assail 
the  human  heart.  All  that  is  good,  all  that  is  evil  within 
him  is  subjected  to  the  utmost  pressure  that  can  be  brought 
to  bear  bj-  the  combined  influences  of  pity,  sympathy,  and 
sometimes  greed.  Youth  and  beauty  on  bended  knee,  with 
clasped  hands  and  streaming  eyes,  implores  help  with  more 
devoted  earnestness  of  purpose,  with  more  burning  reality 
of  feeling,  than  that  with  which  it  approaches  the  throne 
of  grace."  ' 

A  fair  and  just  estimate  of  all  the  risks  and  dangers  at- 
tendant upon  the  crime  will  do  much  toward  stopping  the 
prevalence  of  the  custom — more,  perhaps,  with  some  peo- 
ple than  any  of  the  other  arguments. 

The  JVithdrawal  of  Maternal  and  Paternal  Protection  from 
the  Ofsprinrf. — Many  will  doubtless  be  surprised  at  the 
statement  that  criminal  abortion  is  practised  much  more 

'  Junius  C.  Hoag,  M.  D. ,  jWedico-LegfoZ  JournaZ,  September,  1890, 
p.  117. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  295 

frequently  by  the  married  than  by  the  unmarried  woman. 
Here  is  a  perversion  of  Nature  indeed!  Maternal  sym- 
pathy and  care  and  tenderness  are  withheld,  and  harm  is 
plotted  for  the  child  by  a  mother  who  has  failed  in  her 
duty.  The  i^arents  who  have  sworn  to  the  obligations  of 
wedlock,  which  has  for  its  legitimate  end  the  perpetuation 
of  the  species ;  or  the  parents  who,  by  sexftal  intercourse, 
have  consummated  the  recognized  rites  of  marriage,  plot 
for  the  danger  and  death  of  their  child,  while  the  lioness 
will  bleed  and  fight  for  her  cub  to  the  death.  The  rough 
hand  of  the  uncouth  savage  father  becomes  soft  to  his  babe, 
and  motherhood  among  all  the  higher  animals  means  care, 
and  tenderness,  and  self-sacrifice,  and  love ;  but  the  sexual 
parsesthesia  and  degeneration  found  in  a  social  life  which 
replaces  ethics  and  religion  and  physiology  with  lust,  has 
given  to  the  world  tne  most  formidably  i^erverted  and 
sharp-witted  creatures  known  to  zoologists. 

Abortion,  as  previously  mentioned,  is  usually  brought  on 
before  the  woman  has  recognized  the  active  motions  of  the 
child  in  her  womb;  it  is,  therefore,  most  frequently  done 
at  some  time  before  the  end  of  the  third  month,  before 
marked  enlargement  of  the  abdomen  is  noticed,  and  sel- 
dom after  the  end  of  the  fourth  month.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  is  not  usually  thought  of  until  one  or  more  menstrual 
periods  have  been  missed;  for  the  woman  who  has  only 
passed  one  or  two  periods  tries  to  x^ersuade  herself  that  the 
alarm  is  false,  and  cannot  recognize  any  of  the  signs  of 
pregnancy,  except,  perhaps,  the  "morning  sickness." 

The  unmarried  woman  is  not  so  familiar  with  the  early 
signs  of  x>regnancy  as  a  woman  who  has  had  a  child,  and 
she  is  more  apt  to  let  the  time  slip  by,  hoping  for  a  natural 
return  of  her  courses,  until  one  da}^  she  unmistakably  feels 
the  child  to  be  alive  within  her,  and  then,  after  quickening, 
few  mothers  can  be  found  who  will  not  regard  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  child  as  murder.  The  unmarried  woman  also 
hopes  that  her  paramour  may  consent  to  marry  her  and 


296  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

save  lier  from  the  awful  disgrace,  and  that  the  fact  of  hei 
lover  being  the  father  of  her  child  may  arouse  his  paternal 
instincts.  And,  furthermore,  the  unmarried  woman,  if 
pregnant,  has  little  ojjportunitj'  of  remaining  in  her  room 
or  lying  b}-  for  a  few  da^s,  as  the  married  woman  may  do, 
but  labors  under  the  embarrassing  necessity  of  doing  ever}-- 
thing  in  her  pfewer  to  avert  suspicion.  The  single  woman 
who  contemplates  an  abortion  usually  makes  the  pretext  of 
visiting  friends  in  a  distant  city,  whom  she  knows  to  be  in 
accord  with  her.  On  account  of  the  ignorance  of  unmar- 
ried girls,  and  by  reason  of  the  difficulties  which  beset 
them,  it  is  believed  by  many  physicians  that  full^'  seventy- 
five  to  ninety  per  cent  of  the  criminal  abortions  are  com- 
mitted by  married  women. 

But  who  ever  heard  of  the  law  convicting  a  married  wo- 
man of  this  offence?  Excuses  for  them  are  easy.  And 
yet,  if  we  were  the  judges,  we  should  more  readily  pardon 
the  despairing,  seduced  girl,  the  victim  of  treachery'  and 
deceit,  whose  mind  is  dej^ressed  and  often  actuall}^  de- 
ranged by  her  awful  shame  and  sorrow,  whose  thoughts 
now  turn  to  a  mode  of  relief  from  which  she  would  in  her 
right  senses  recoil  in  horror  and  dismay,  and  whose  phys- 
ical and  mental  system  is  weak  and  prostrated — a  wretched 
girl  whose  lover  has  proved  to  be  a  devil,  whose  par-ents 
have  disowned  her,  who  stands  ofttimes  in  her  wild  frenzy 
by  the  river,  meditating  death,  fearing  the  social  degrada- 
tion to  herself  and  the  illegitimac}-  of  her  innocent  child, 
which  her  natural  instinct  teaches  her  to  love. 

But  if  the  fallen  girl  who  is  not  insane  has  no  justifica- 
tion for  the  crime,  what  pretext  can  the  married  woman 
give  for  the  nullification  of  the  miracle  of  motherhood? 

In  rare  cases  it  may  be  that  she  is  ignorant  of  the  true 
character  of  the  act,  but  this  can  hardly  be  so  in  this  en- 
lightened age.  The  fear  of  childbed  cannot  be  given  as  a 
valid  excuse,  for  all  doctors  agree  that  an  abortion  is  more 
dangerous  than  a  full-time  delivery.     The  abortion  is  "a 


CRIMINAL  ABORTION  297 

labor  in  miuiature,  at  least  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  expel- 
ling organ  and  to  the  expelled  product;  but  not  in  miuia- 
ture in  regard  to  the  duration  of  the  process  and  the  at- 
tendant suffering.'"  Ambrose  Jardien'  reports  that  in 
thirty -four  cases  of  criminal  abortion,  where  their  history 
was  known,  twenty-two  were  followed  as  a  consequence  by 
death.  Tardieu,  the  great  French  medico-legal  authority, 
states  that  in  one  hundred  and  sixteen  cases  of  this  class 
death  occurred  in  sixty. 

Joseph  Taber  Johnson,  M.D.,  says: 

"  It  is  an  every-day  occurrence  for  ladies  to  consult  busy 
gynaecologists  in  our  large  cities  in  regard  to  symptoms 
which,  upon  inquiry,  are  found  to  date  back  to  an  unfortu- 
nate abortion.  It  would  be  quite  within  the  limits  of  truth 
were  I  to  state  that  two-thirds  of  the  work  of  the  gyusecolo- 
gists  of  this  age  finds  its  chief  cause  in  the  evils  discussed 
by  Dr.  Goodell  and  our  essayist '  this  evening.  It  is  a  sad 
commentary  upon  the  Christian  civilization  of  the  age,  but 
the  experience  of  honest  workers  in  this  dej^artment  of  our 
science  would,  I  believe,  corroborate  the  truth  of  this  sad- 
dening statement." 

Tardieu  gives  as  causes  of  death  embolism,  syncope 
from  excessive  pain,  and  moral  shock  resulting  from  a  con- 
sciousness of  guilt ;  and  to  this  may  be  added  hemorrhage 
and  septicaemia. 

Some  married  women  give  as  excuses  the  "  demands  of 
society,"  or  say  that  they  are  going  to  take  "a  trip  to 
Europe  and  cannot  put  it  off,"  or  that  they  shrink  from 
the  disfigurement  of  childbirth,  or  that  they  are  too  fond 
of  indolence  and  luxury,  or  that  "  they  have  not  the  means 
to  support  and  educate  a  larger  family."  Could  they  not 
share  what  they  have  with  the  poor,  innocent  babe,  even 
though  it  has  come  as  an  unbidden  guest? 

>Parvin,  "Text-Book  on  Obstetrics,"  p.  294. 

2  "Etude  medico-legale  sur  I'lnfanticide,  "  Paris,  1868. 

'J.  F.  Scott. 


298  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

To  a  woman  with  children  who  would  ask  us  to  perform 
an  abortion  on  her,  we  would  say  :  "  Madam,  let  us  kill  one 
of  the  children  already  born,  if  you  cannot  support  any 
more ;  it  will  be  far  safer  to  3^ our  health  to  allow  the  babe 
in  your  womb  to  go  to  full  time  and  be  delivered  naturally, 
and  the  crime  will  be  precisely  the  same."  Such  a  state- 
ment usually  drives  your  meaning  straight  home. 

The  Glories  of  Maternity. — In  the  beginning,  when  all 
was  inorganic  and  chaotic,  what  a  crime  it  would  have  been 
if  some  evil  power  should  have  annihilated  the  first  living 
cell,  a  mere  mass  of  primordial  protoplasm  which  had  been 
endowed  by  the  Creator  with  the  principle  called  Liie! 
From  that  vivified  protoplasmic  cell,  touched  by  the  Cre- 
ator's hand,  have  come  all  the  phenomena  of  life,  the  total- 
ity of  existence;  all  the  plants  and  creatures  of  the  air, 
earth,  and  water ;  all  the  thousands  of  millions  of  men  and 
women,  placed  here  to  work  out  a  civilization  which  nor- 
mallj'  points  upward  to  love,  and  hope,  and  happiness, 
and  home,  and  heaven.  As  Henry  Drummond '  has  pointed 
out,  the  Mother  represents  "  the  last  and  most  elaborately 
wrought  pinnacle  of  the  temple  of  Nature,"  cro'^iiing  the 
animal  kingdom.  The  highest  class  of  animals,  the  Mam- 
malia, or  those  that  bear  teats  and  suckle  their  young,  have 
taken  their  name  from  them,  and  the  mother  is  the  type  of 
the  highest  exi^ressiou  of  Nature. 

"  Is  it  too  much  to  -say  that  the  one  motive  of  organic 
Nature  was  to  make  mothers?  It  is  at  least  certain  that 
this  was  the  chief  thing  she  did.  Ask  the  zoologist  what, 
judging  from  science  alone.  Nature  aspired  to  from  the 
first;  he  could  but  answer  Mammalia — ^mothers.  In  as 
real  a  sense  as  a  factory  is  meant  to  turn  out  locomotives 
or  clocks,  the  machinery  of  Nature  is  designed  in  the  last 
resort  to  turn  out  mothers.  You  will  find  mothers  in 
lower  nature  at  every  stage  of  imperfection ;  jou  will  see 
attempts  being  made  to  get  at  better  types;  you  find  old 
»  "  The  Ascent  of  Man, "  p.  267  et  seq. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  299 

ideas  abandoned  and  higher  models  coming  to  the  front. 
And  when  you  get  to  the  top  you  find  the  last  great  act  was 
but  to  present  to  the  world  a  physiologically  perfect  type. 
It  is  a  fact  which  no  human  mother  can  regard  without 
awe,  which  no  man  can  realize  without  a  new  reverence  for 
woman  and  a  new  belief  in  the  higher  meaning  of  Nature, 
that  the  goal  of  the  whole  plant  and  animal  kingdoms 
seems  to  have  been  the  creation  of  a  family,  which  the  very 
naturalist  has  had  to  call  Mammalia."  ' 

Descending  in  the  scale  of  Nature  to  the  lowest  forms  of 
animal  life,  we  observe  that  the  young  are  left  to  hatch  and 
develop  without  maternal  or  paternal  love  or  protection ;  in 
fact,  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  love  in  ani- 
mals lower  in  the  scale  than  mammals  and  birds.  "  What 
does  exist,  and  sometimes  in  marvellous  perfection,  is  care 
for  eggs :  but  that  is  a  wholly  different  thing,  both  in  its 
physical  and  psychical  aspect,  from  love  of  offspring.  The 
truth  is,  Nature  so  made  animals  in  the  earl}^  days  that 
they  did  not  need  mothers.  The  moment  they  were  born 
they  looked  after  themselves,  and  were  perfectly  able  to 
look  after  themselves."  * 

The  young  of  the  lower  forms  of  life  are  so  multitudinous 
that,  were  they  all  to  develop,  the  earth  and  sea  would  be 
filled  with  teeming  millions  of  them ;  but  only  a  few  of  the 
fortunate  ones  reach  maturity,  all  of  them  being  entirely 
dependent  on  themselves  from  the  moment  of  birth.  It  is 
onlj^  when  we  reach  the  higher  forms  of  life  that  the  moth- 
ers even  recognize  their  young,  and  for  this  purpose  it  is 
necessarj^  that  the  offspring  shall  be  few  in  number,  simi- 
lar in  appearance  to  their  parents,  and  dependent,  on  ac- 
count of  their  helplessness,  on  their  mothers.  Such  is  the 
case  with  the  Mammalia,  in  contradistinction,  for  instance, 
to  the  reptiles  and  batrachians  and  fish,  with  their  innu- 
merable progeny. 

'  Drummond,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  268. 
'  Drummond,  ibid. ,  p.  269. 


300  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

In  the  lower  forms  of  animal  life  tlie  maternal  care  is 
limited  to  tlie  depositing  of  the  eggs  in  a  safe  place,  the 
young  being  left  without  parental  assistance  to  hatch  by 
chance  and  to  i:)rovide  for  themselves  from  the  outset. 
Parental  affection  is  entirely  wanting,  since  the  early  stages 
do  not  resemble  the  mature  stages,  and  since  the  mothers 
often  die  soon  after  they  have  deposited  the  eggs. 

It  is  not  until  we  ascend  in  the  scale  of  life  to  the  birds 
that  we  find  this  love  and  domestic  hapi^iness,  and  here, 
except  among  the  fowls  and  barnyard  x)oultr3',  we  find  the 
most  intimate  and  lasting  marriages ;  and  Dr.  Brehm'  says : 
"Beal  genuine  marriage  can  onl}^  be  found  among  birds." 

"  In  bii'ds  parental  affection  has  reached  a  very  high  de- 
gree of  development,  not  only  on  the  mother's  side,  but 
also  on  the  father's.  Male  and  female  help  each  other  to 
build  the  nest,  the  former  generally  bringing  the  materials, 
the  latter  doing  the  work.  In  fulfilling  the  numberless 
duties  of  the  breeding  season,  both  birds  take  a  share. 
Incubation  rests  principallj-  with  the  mother,  but  the 
father,  as  a  rule,  helps  his  companion,  taking  her  place 
when  she  wants  to  leave  the  nest  for  a  moment,  or  provid- 
ing her  with  food  and  protecting  her  from  every  danger. 
Finally,  when  the  duties  of  the  breeding  season  are  over, 
and  the  result  desired  is  obtained,  a  period  with  new  du- 
ties commences.  During  the  first  few  days  after  hatching, 
most  birds  rarely  leave  their  3'ouug  for  long,  and  then  only 
to  procure  food  for  themselves  and  their  family- .  In  cases 
of  great  danger,  both  parents  bravely  defend  their  offspring. 
As  soon  as  the  first  period  of  helplessness  is  over,  and  the 
young  have  grown  somewhat,  they  are  carefully  taught  to 
shift  for  themselves ;  and  it  is  only  when  they  are  perfectly 
capable  of  so  doing  that  they  leave  the  nest  and  the 
parents."  ^ 

With  the  advance  to  the  Mammalia,  mothers  made  an 

»A.  E.  Brehm,  "Bird-Life,"  Trans.,  p.  285. 

'  Westermarck,  "  History  of  Human  Marriage, "  p.  11. 


CKIMINAL   ABORTION.  301 

immense  step  forward  tlirougli  the  very  fact  that  their 
young  are  more  deijeudeut,  take  longer  to  develoj),  and 
that  they  must  stay  close  to  the  parent.  The  young  seeks 
its  mother's  teats  to  derive  nourishment,  and  the  mother 
is  no  less  dependent  on  it  to  relieve  her  breasts  of  engorge- 
ment. In  this  way  an  inexpressibly  powerful  affection  and 
endearment  grows  nj)  between  the  two,  which  is  the  stronger 
in  proportion  to  the  fewness  of  the  offspring  and  the  length 
of  the  time  of  dependency.  Such  a  mother  will  start  at  the 
slightest  cry  of  pain  from  her  child ;  and  if  danger  threaten, 
a  maternal  fury  is  exhibited  which  none  can  ignore  with 
impunit}^ 

Of  all  the  animals  none  is  so  tardy  in  its  develoi^ment 
nor  so  utterly  helpless  in  its  feebleness  as  the  human  babe. 
A  kitten,  a  calf,  or  a  colt,  or  a  baby  monkey,  at  six  months 
of  age  knows  immeasurably  more  and  is  entirely  indejjen- 
dent  of  care ;  but  the  infant,  even  at  a  much  later  date  than 
that,  is  absolutely  helpless  and  dependent  for  its  every 
want.  To  elaborate  such  a  fine  piece  of  machinery  as  the 
Homo  sapiens  requires  time  and  parental  attention,  and  a 
lengthened  delay  b}"  its  mother's  side.  It  is  precisely  this 
mutual  interdependence  between  mother  and  child,  and  the 
child's  helplessness  and  tardy  development,  which  are  the 
cause  of  the  maternal  sympathy  and  tenderness  and  watch- 
fulness. The  mother  runs  no  less  eagerly  to  the  child  when 
it  is  hurt  than  the  child  goes  to  her ;  they  are  in  a  relation- 
ship of  perfect  trust  and  perfect  love. 

If,  as  Henry  Drummond  has  so  beautifully  pointed  out 
in  "  The  Ascent  of  Man,"  the  infant  has  been  the  "  tutor  for 
the  affections"  of  its  mother,  it  also  has  transformed  man 
from  a  savage  into  a  loving  father,  who,  with  the  mother, 
concentrates  his  affections  on  the  object  which  belongs  to 
both,  and  in  loving  the  one  he  loves  the  other  with  a  new 
love.  While  among  Carnivora  the  males  sometimes  eat  up 
the  young,  so  that  the  mothers  frequently  have  to  hide  them 
away,  it  is  nevertheless  the  rule  with  the  Mammalia  that 


802  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

the  male  sliall  protect  and  defend  liis  family.  Tlius,  Herr 
von  Koppenfells  states  '  that  the  male  gorilla  "  spends  the 
night  crouching  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  against  which  he 
places  his  back,  and  thus  x)rotects  the  female  and  their 
young,  which  are  in  the  nest  above,  from  the  nocturnal 
attacks  of  leopards." 

And  Savage '  says  of  the  gorillas  that  "  when  the  male 
is  first  seen  he  gives  a  terrific  yell  that  resounds  far  and 
wide  through  the  forest.  .  .  .  The  females  and  young  at 
the  first  cry  quickly  disappear;  he  then  approaches  the 
enemy  in  great  fury,  pouring  out  his  horrid  cries  in  quick 
succession."  This  is  the  function  of  a  father — that  of  a 
protector  and  a  food-getter. 

After  the  consummation  of  the  marriage  by  sexual  inter- 
course, and  after  the  birth  of  tlie  infant,  there  is  normally, 
even  among  gorillas  and  chimpanzees  and  orang-outangs 
and  savages,  a  sense  of  permanent  relationship  to  the 
mother,  and  a  conjugal  tie  which  binds  them  together.  It 
is  a  sacred  thing  indeed  to  be  a  mother,  for  the  tie  that 
binds  the  child  to  her  forever  remains  more  intimate  and 
lasting  than  the  affection  for  the  father.  It  was  the  little 
child  which  first  taught  primitive  man  the  qualities  of  love 
and  tenderness  and  sympathy ;  and  it  is  the  j-earning  for 
offspring  which  normally  compels  love  and  marriage  be- 
tween the  males  and  females  of  all  animals.  Sexual  inter- 
course is  not  intended  for  so  trifling  a  purpose  as  that  of 
giving  a  pleasurable  sensation,  and  the  mating  of  the  two 
sexes  finds  its  highest  manifestation  in  this  act  of  love. 
Sexual  pleasure  is  merely  an  incident  in  the  union  of  the 
sexes,  which  draws  them  together  in  order  to  ensure  a  re- 
sult— birth — which  is  attended  with  pain  and  anxieties  and 
prolonged  responsibilities. 

The  highest  function  of  a  true  man  is  to  protect  her 
whom  he  loves,  and  to  make  the  greatest  sacrifices  for  her 

'  Westermarck,  loc.   cit. ,  p.  14. 

'  "  Description  of  Troglodytes  Gorilla, "  p.  9  et  seq. 


CRIMINAL   ABORTION.  303 

and  for  their  offspring.  During  the  months  and  years 
while  the  mother  is  devoting  her  whole  mind  and  heart  to 
the  rearing  of  his  child,  he  is  to  infuse  into  that  family 
circle  a  fragrance  of  manliness. 

It  is  man  who  plays  the  active,  woman  the  passive  part  in 
courtship;  and  after  his  approach  to  the  female  his  man- 
hood must  pledge  him,  by  the  power  of  a  natural  law,  to 
provide  for  the  subsequent  protection  and  guardianship 
both  of  the  woman  and  the  offspring.  This  is  a  higher  law 
of  honor  than  any  made  by  the  decrees  of  fashion  or  so- 
called  respectability. 

Nature  struggled  up  from  the  first  primordial  mass  of 
protoplasm,  through  the  plants,  and  through  the  lower 
forms  of  animal  life ;  up  through  the  invertebrata  and  the 
vertebrata,  some  types  persisting  merely  as  fossils,  others 
modified  from  their  ancestors.  Ages  have  been  spent  in  the 
evolution  of  the  Mammalia,  and  the  culmination  of  this  in- 
definitely prolonged  extension  of  time  has  been  the  master- 
piece— Man,  or  rather  the  Mother.  Nature  has  made  noth- 
ing superior,  and  Man  is  but  the  crown  of  Woman's 
glory. 

Criminal  abortion  is  thus  seen  to  be  the  most  abhorrent 
crime  against  Nature  which  could  be  conceived  of,  and  the 
man  who  permits  the  mother  and  her  offspring  to  struggle 
through  the  long  and  bitter  years  in  illegitimac}',  without 
honoring  that  family  relationship  in  the  natural  capacity 
of  a  father,  refusing  to  provide  food  and  shelter,  and  crav- 
enly  withholding  his  protection,  is  the  i^roduct  of  a  cornipt 
civilization  so  much  below  the  gorillas  and  the  sparrows 
that  we  can  only  classify  him  as  a  Monster.  No  mother 
who  understands  her  position  at  the  summit  of  Creation, 
or  who  has  any  of  the  natural  instinct  of  love,  can  connive 
at  the  destruction  of  her  babe,  unless  she  be  deranged, 
without  abdicating  her  lofty  and  holy  position  of  sover- 
eignty in  Nature ;  and  if  the  dumb  brutes  could  speak  they 
would  plead  with  her  to  ignore  public  sentiment  at  any 


304  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

cost,  and  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  instinct,  o!  pity,  and  ol 
love. 

Criminal  abortion  is  the  most  villainous  crime  against 
tlie  infant,  tlie  mother,  the  family  circle,  society'  and  Na- 
ture. Except  therapeutically,  the  destruction  of  this  hu- 
man life  is  absoluteh'  indefensible.  It  is  attended  with 
extreme  danger  to  the  mother's  health  of  mind  and  body, 
to  her  happiness,  and  to  her  life.  It  is  no  trifling  factor 
in  the  awful  waste  of  human  life,  and  is  possible  only  in  a 
community  which  tolerates  one  standard  of  purity  for  men 
and  another  for  women.  It  is  wholly  irreligious  and  im- 
moral, and  is  but  the  natural  outcome  of  men's  demand  for 
illegitimate  sexual  gratification. 


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Fig.  XII.     MALE  GENITO-URINARY  ORGANS. 
Showing  tlie  principal  gonorrhoea!  infections.     Page  348. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GONOKEHCEA. 

More  diligence  lias,  perliai)S,  been  devoted  to  the  study 
of  Gonorrhoea,  and  especially  to  the  discovery  of  its  cause, 
than  to  almost  any  other  disease ;  and  one  who  gives  to  the 
subject  the  attention  which  it  merits  cannot  fail  to  be  moved 
with  admiration  at  the  toilsome  laboratory  work  which  has 
been  directed  to  the  elucidation  of  the  many  iJroblems  which 
it  presents.  The  greater  number  of  laymen,  even  those  who 
3.re  the  most  cultured  and  highly  educated,  have  entirely 
erroneous  ideas  regarding  its  cause,  nature  and  conse- 
quences— little  appreciating  its  extreme  gravity  and  the 
terrible  results  which  it  may  entail  to  the  person  who  ac- 
L^uires  it  and  to  his  future  wife  and  children  who  receive  it 
innocently. 

One  often  hears  of  an  otherwise  intelligent  person  who  is 
reported  to  have  said  that  he  thought  no  more  of  having  a 
case  of  "  clap"  than  a  severe  cold,  but  no  one  ever  hears 
that  remark  from  a  patient  in  the  height  of  the  attack. 

The  well-informed  physician  knows  that  its  consequences 
may  be  most  disastrous  to  the  health  and  happiness  of  the 
patient  himself,  even  endangering  life ;  and  that  it  may  bring 
into  his  home  circle  the  doom  of  a  partial  or  complete  ster- 
ility, as  well  as  the  gloom  of  blindness,  especiall}-  to  his 
offspring.  The  germs  of  the  disease  usually  invade  the 
tissues  of  the  genital  zone,  and  may  lie  dormant  in  them 
for  long  periods  of  time,  to  recrudesce,  or  revive  into  activ- 
ity, after  any  sexual  excess,  or  debauch,  or  strain,  or  im- 
pairment of  vitality  of  the  tissues  affected. 

This  serious  ailment  may  remain  slumbering  for  years, 


308  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

after  an  apparent  cure,  causing  few  or  no  symptoms  which 
are  apj^reciable  to  the  infected  sufferer,  and  then  break  out 
into  a  number  of  subacute  attacks  which  ai'e  but  recurrences 
of  the  original  one. 

In  the  male  the  disease  very  commonly  causes  a  morbid 
contraction  of  the  urethra,  "stricture,"  which  is  always  a 
source  of  distress  and  danger,  often  leading  to  fatal  com- 
plications from  bladder  and  kiduey  affections.  More  gen- 
eralh'  it  causes  painful  conditions,  such  as  abscesses  and 
"swelled  testicles,"  the  latter  of  which  is  a  fruitful  source 
of  sterility  in  men.  Even  the  mildest  case  of  gonorrhoea 
may  be  followed  by  any  or  all  of  the  grave  disorders. 

In  the  female  its  effects  are  most  horrible  and  appalling, 
leading,  as  in  the  male,  to  severe  bladder  and  kidnej'  in- 
flammation, and  in  addition,  owing  to  the  anatomical  dif- 
ferentiations of  sex,  to  iufliimmations  of  the  vagina  and 
uterus,  the  formation  of  extensive  pus  collections  in  the 
Fallopian  tubes  and  ovaries,  and  to  peritonitis.  The  larg- 
est class  of  patients  entering  hospitals  for  the  diseases  of 
women,  and  recpiiring  the  severest  operations  known  to 
surgery,  come  on  account  of  the.  ravages  of  gonorrhoea — it 
being  by  no  means  an  unusual  thing  for  women  to  die  from 
its  effects  or  to  sink  into  a  condition  of  incurable  invalid- 
ism ;  and,  as  a  rule,  they  have  acquired  it  innocently  from 
their  impure  husbands,  who  are  envenomed  with  "latent 
gonorrhoea." 

Furthermore,  the  microbes,  which  are  the  cause  of  gon- 
orrhoea, are  in  some  cases  uncontrollable  b}^  remedies  and 
become  i)rofusely  scattered  throughout  the  system,  causing 
a  constitutional  infection  accompanied  by  the  most  malig- 
nant and  dangerous  inflammations,  such  as  "gonorrhoeal 
rheumatism" — the  severest  of  all  types  of  rheumatism — 
and  various  other  inflammations  of  joints,  tendons,  and 
fibrous  tissues.  The  lining  membrane  of  the  heart,  the 
endocardium,  sometimes  shares  in  this  virulent  process, 
and  grave  forms  of  heart  disease  are  in  this  way  initiated; 


GONORRHCEA.  309 

and  further,  tlie  meninges,  or  membranous  coverings  of  tlie 
brain  and  spinal  cord,  may  be  affected  and  cause  serious 
and  even  fatal  consequences,  while  the  i)ernicious  effects  of 
the  organisms  ma}'  produce  the  most  deleterious  results 
also  on  the  medulla  oblongata,  the  kidneys,  the  pericar- 
dium, the  large  veins,  etc. 

Thus  this  disease  of  gonorrhoea,  or  "clap,"  which  is  re- 
garded by  uueuliglitened  men  as  of  little  moment,  is  seen 
to  be  portentous  in  its  possibilities,  even  to  the  extent  of 
becoming  a  dangerous  constitutional  infection;  though,  as 
a  rule,  it  remains  localized  at  the  area  of  its  initial  en- 
trance, becoming  less  and  less  virulent  by  degrees,  though 
never  characterized  bj^  a  single  element  that  is  not  grave. 
These  facts  are  a  terra  incognita  to  the  laitj^ ;  and  even  some 
doctors,  who  are  behind  the  enlightenment  of  the  times, 
make  the  mistake  of  regarding  the  disease  as  trivial,  until 
a  sad  experience  teaches  them  otherwise. 

A  very  conservative  authority'  says  in  his  standard  text- 
book: 

"  When  we  consider  the  vast  range  of  pathological  con- 
ditions which  gonorrhoea  may  cause  or  lead  to,  we  are  cer- 
tainly warranted  in  asserting  that  it  is,  taken  as  a  whole, 
one  of  the  most  formidable  and  far-reaching  infections  by 
which  the  human  race  is  attacked." 

And  Finger,  a  great  German  authority  on  gonorrhoea, 
says : * 

"Gonorrhoea  of  the  male  urethra  is  probablj^  the  most 
frequent  disease  with  which  the  practical  physician  has  to 
deal.  With  it  he  usually  begins  his  early  practice,  and 
until  the  end  it  causes  him  many  anxious  hours.  Frequent 
as  is  the  disease,  it  is  equally  ungrateful  as  regards  a  pos- 
itive and  radical  cure." 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  this  accursed  disease 
has  been  known  ever  since  history  began.     The  fifteenth 

•  Taylor,  "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  56. 

'"Gonorrhoea  and  its  fomplications, "  English  translation,  p.  23. 


3]0  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

chapter  of  Leviticus  is  taken  up  with  an  evident  descrip- 
tion of  this  affection,  and  explicit  directions  are  therein 
given  for  the  reguhition  of  those  so  infected  with  "unclean- 
ness"  in  their  "  issues" ;  and  the  literature  of  the  ancient 
Greeks  and  Romans,  as  recorded  by  Hippocrates,  Her- 
odotus, Pliny,  Juvenal,  Celsus,  Galen,  and  many  others, 
contains  numerous  unmistakable  references  to  it  and  its 
contagiousness. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  it  raged,  and  continues  to  this  day 
to  be,  as  Finger  says  above,  "  probably  the  most  frequent 
disease  with  which  the  practical  i)hysician  has  to  deal." 

Within  the  past  few  years,  i.e.,  the  last  two  decades, 
there  has  been  a  comi)lete  and  astonishing  modification  of 
the  ideas  which  were  formerly  held  regarding  this  disease 
and  its  dangers,  due  to  the  perfection  of  bacteriological 
science,  with  the  result  that  it  is  now  recognized  as  a  social 
danger  of  the  greatest  malignity.  Seemingly  trifling  in  its 
initial  stages,  it  nevertheless  tends  to  remain  localized  in 
the  genital  tract,  causing  in  many  instances,  sometimes 
slowly  and  haltingly,  sometimes  rapidly,  an  irreparable 
damage  to  the  procreative  organs,  to  the  bladder  and  kid- 
neys, to  the  eyes,  the  heart,  the  joints,  and  various  other 
tissues  of  the  bod^^ 

In  every  case  where  a  woman  is  infected  with  gonorrhcBa 
she  is  in  danger,  not  only  of  being  rendered  a  permanent 
invalid  and  barren,  but  also  of  losing  her  life  from  perito- 
nitis and  septicaemia. 

We  shall  ultimately  see  the  ruin  which  is  visited  upon 
innocent  women  by  husbands  who  years  before  had  con- 
tracted a  gonorrhoea  from  which  they  never  were  cured ;  for 
only  those  doctors  who  are  skilled  in  microscopy  and  bac- 
teriological technique  are  in  any  way  competent  to  say 
whether  the  process  is  still  latent  or  not.  A  case  is  far 
from  cured  when  the  discharge  of  pus  is  no  longer  visible, 
though  all  patients  and  many  physicians  rest  content  when 
this  result  is  accomplished. 


GONORRHCEA.  311 

Gonorrlioea,  being  essentially  a  local  disease  due  to  defi- 
nite micro-organisms,  is  "  curable"  at  auj'  stage,  though  it 
must  be  pointed  out  that  the  word  "  cure"  is  objectionable 
to  many  physicians  in  relation  to  almost  all  morbid  proc- 
esses, for  a  restitutio  ad  integrum,  or  restoration  to  the 
previous  condition,  is  rarely  attained.  "  Relieved"  is  a 
better  word  than  "cured,"  for  the  germs  can  indeed  be  de- 
stroyed, with  ijerhaps  little  damage  to  the  tissues ;  but  in 
those  instances  where  there  are  several  fresh  infections, 
each  attack  is  modified  in  intensity  and  results  by  the  fact 
that  the  tissues  have  been  so  impaired  that  the  condition 
becomes  more  and  more  favorable  for  the  formation  of  scar 
tissue.  In  other  words,  gonorrhoea  alters  the  "  state  of 
receptivity"  of  the  urethral  mucous  membrane  so  that  it  is 
rendered  a  favorable  soil  for  the  growth  of  other  harmful 
organisms. 

A  majority  of  the  cases,  however,  are  "  cured"  in  the  or- 
dinary acceptation  of  the  term. 

Venus  was  the  Latin  name  for  the  "Goddess  of  Love," 
while  the  same  deity  was  identified  by  the  Greeks  as  Aphro- 
dite, the  patroness  of  lust.  Her  name  is  used  in  medicine 
for  things  rela-ting  to  sexual  love  and  intercourse;  hence 
the  terms  venereal  and  aphrodisiac — pertaining  to  love  or 
venery. 

Venereal  diseases  are  such  as  are  intimately  associated 
with  the  gratification  of  the  sexual  passion,  and  are  gonor- 
rhcBa,  chancroid,  and  syphilis ;  and  of  these  gonorrhoea  is 
the  most  distinctly  venereal,  since  it  is  rarelj^  acquired  in 
any  other  way  than  by  sexual  intercourse,  while  the  others 
frequently  are. 

Eicord,  the  great  Parisian  authority  on  venereal  diseases, 
claimed  that  eight  hundred  out  of  every  thousand  men  who 
lived  in  large  cities  had  at  some  time  in  their  lives  suffered 
with  gonorrhoea. 

Gonorrhoea,  as  previously  stated,  is  probably  the  most 
frequent  disease  which  requires  treatment;    and  it  stands 


312  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

near  tlie  top  in  tlie  amount  of  harm  it  does  to  tlie  human 
race. 

In  contradistinction  to  syphilis,  it  is  essentially  a  local 
disease  aud  does  not  taint  the  blood  and  thus  transmit 
itself  to  one's  posterity.  We  have  said  that  the  germs  of 
the  disease  sometimes  become  scattered  throughout  the 
whole  body,  causing  grave  constitutional  effects,  aud  that 
the  wife  and  child  may  be  afflicted;  but  these  facts  must 
not  mislead  one  into  the  error  of  regarding  gonorrhoea  as  a 
disease  which  taints  the  blood. 

The  gonorrhosal  infection  is  a  typically  virulent  or  venom- 
ous process,  due  to  the  growth  of  a  minute  vegetable  organ- 
ism— the  "gonococcus" — of  which  we  shall  presently'  speak. 

Gonorrhoea  can  develop  only  b}^  inoculation  with  these 
gonococci,  which  are  usualh*  conveyed  iu  the  mucous  or 
purulent  discharge  from  another  infected  x^erson. 

It  is  usually  situated  iu  the  sexual  organs  of  the  male 
and  female ;  the  latter  sex  being  the  chief  source  of  its  trans- 
mission, while  the  male  sex  is  more  frequently  infected — the 
reason  for  this  being  that  men  are  more  frequently  impure, 
and  because  a  comparatively^  small  proportion  of  woman, 
kind  cater  to  the  lewd  jjassions  of  men. 

The  main  source  of  gonorrhoea  is  coitus  with  a  woman 
so  affected,  and  it  is  a  condiih  sine  qua  non  that  one  in- 
dividual can  contract  the  disease  onl}^  from  another  who 
has  the  malady. 

Gonorrhoea  is  termed  by  physicians  a  "  specific  urethri- 
tis," by  which  is  meant  a  virulent  or  poisonous  inflamma- 
tion of  the  urethra,  iu  contradistinction  to  the  "simple 
urethritis,"'  which  is  an  inflammatory  condition  simulat- 
ing the  specific  form,  but  comparatively  trivial.  Not  every 
case  of  urethritis,  or  inflammation  in  the  urethra,  is  gonor- 
rhoea. Thus,  a  man  may  have  a  urethritis  develop  after  a 
pure  intercourse  with  his  wife,  if  she  has  an  acrid  dis- 

'The  termination  itis  is  used  by  pathologists  to  signify  an 
inflammation  of  any  organ  to  the  name  of  which  it  is  suffixed. 


GONORRHCEA.  313 

charge  or  is  menstruating,  but  it  is  nonsense  to  believe  that 
one  can  contract  gonorrhoea  from  another  person  who  has 
not  gonorrhoea. 

As  explanatory  of  the  above  a  case  recently  came  to  the 
notice  of  the  author,  where  a  respectable  and  pure  man 
married  and  took  a  wedding  trip  of  several  weeks'  dura- 
tion. Upon  reaching  Washington  he  apj)lied  for  medical 
advice  in  an  agony  of  mind,  saying  that  he  had  an  inflam- 
mation in  the  urethra,  and  believing  that  he  had  acquired 
gonorrhoea  from  his  wife,  for  he  had  been  with  no  other 
woman.  The  case  was  satisfactorily  cleared  up  by  the 
diagnosis,  aided  by  the  microscope,  which  made  it  j^ossi- 
ble  to  assure  him  that  he  was  suffering  from  a  "  simple"  or 
"non-infective  urethritis,"  and  not  from  gonorrhoea.  The 
man  then  acknowledged  that  he  had  insisted  on  intercourse 
with  his  wife,  a  few  days  before,  in  spite  of  her  disapproval 
and  warning  that  she  was  menstruating. 

The  above  case  is  mentioned  in  order  to  allow  no  married 
man  to  wrongfully  blame  his  wife  if  he  chance  to  get  some 
of  her  irritating  and  acrid  discharges  into  his  urethra. 
She  and  he  are  then  both  blameless  in  their  constancy,  and 
the  affair  is  trivial.  This  "  simple  urethritis"  is  not  severe 
and  is  no  worse  than  a  "  cold  in  the  head." 

Gonorrhoea  is  what  is  called  a  "specific  disease,"  i.e.,  it 
is  produced  by  a  special  or  distinctly  determined  cause,  the 
gonococcus,  which  has  distinctive  characteristics  of  its  own. 

The  term  is  derived  from  two  Greek  words  j"^>"9,"  semen," 
and  piit>,  to  "flow,"  but  its  etymology  is  erroneous  and  the 
word  is  x^arclonable  only  on  account  of  its  antiquity. 

The  gonorrhoeal  process  maj^  attack  any  mucous  or  serous 
surface ;  for  instance  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  urethra, 
vagina,  uterus,  eye,  mouth,  nose,  ear,  anus,  but  of  course 
it  usually  attacks  the  urethra  in  the  male,  and  in  the  fe- 
male the  urethra,  vagina,  uterus,  Fallopian  tubes,  ovaries 
and  peritoneum. 

The   chronic   form  of  gonorrhoea,  which  may   last  for 


314  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

montlis  or  j^ears,  is  termed  "  gleet. "     This  word,  however^ 
is  rarely  employed  in  scientific  phraseology. 

Gonorrhoea  of  course  may  attack  individuals  of  either 
sex  at  any  x)eriod  of  life  from  infancy  to  extreme  old  age,  if 
any  of  the  poisonous  substance  is  planted  on  a  mucous 
membrane  in  any  way  whatsoever.  Excex)t  in  rare  instances, 
which  are  either  accidental,  or  unnatural,  accursed  and  exe- 
crable, one  sex  derives  it  from  the  other. 

It  may  be,  and  often  is,  carried  by  the  fingers,  or  soiled 
linen,  or  towels,  and  then  usually  affects  the  mucous  mem- 
brane of  the  eye;  but  in  the  vast  majority  of  cases  it  is 
contracted  by  direct  infection  during  impure  intercourse. 

The  most  dangerous  women  are  those  who  are  most  ex- 
posed to  the  acquisition  of  the  disease  by  the  bestowal  of 
their  favors  on  the  greatest  number  of  men,  and  those  who 
practise  prostitution  clandestinely. 

Disgusting  as  it  is,  the  reader  must  share  in  the  knowl- 
edge held  by  the  profession  of  the  depths  of  infamy  to 
which  the  unbridled  gratification  of  the  sexual  instinct  may 
lead. 

Gonorrhoea  of  the  mouth  is  occasionally  contracted  by 
the  beastly  and  UDuatural  perversion  of  buccal  intercourse, 
but  the  cases,  of  which  there  are  not  a  few,  are  too  loath- 
some to  dwell  upon. 

Coitus  per  rectum  sometimes  conveys  the  disease  to  that 
region,  and  many  well-authenticated  cases  of  rectal  gonor- 
rhoea have  been  reported,  usually,  but  not  always,  from 
sodomy.  ; 

Winslow  ■  reports  a  case  where  a  hoj  in  a  Baltimore  in- 
stitution contracted  urethral  gonorrhoea  while  out  on  leave, 
and  by  pederast}-,  or  rectal  coitus,  spread  the  contagion 
to  ten  other  boys,  who  consequently  suffered  from  rectal 
gonorrhoea.     J.  A.  Murray "  reports  a  case  of  gonorrhoea 

•  "  Report  of  an  Epidemic  of  Gonorrhoea  Contracted  from  Rectal 
Coition, "  Medical  Neirs,  August  14,  1886. 
«  Medical  News,  March  7,  1896. 


GONORRHCEA.  315 

of  tlie  rectum  where  tlie  iunocent  wife  of  au  iuuoceut  lius- 
band  coutraetecl  tlie  disease  by  using  iu  lier  bathroom  a 
rectal  syringe  which  had  just  before  been  used  by  a  ser- 
vant^girl — who  confessed  to  having  gonorrhoea — for  gi\T.ng 
herself  a  vaginal  injection.  Many  similar  cases  are  re- 
corded. Gonorrhoea  of  the  rectum  causes  great  pain,  a 
constant  desire  to  go  to  the  closet,  agonizing  stools  and 
painful  urination,  with  i^urulent  and  bloody  discharges 
from  the  rectum. 

Etiology,  or  an  Account  of  the  Cause  and  Origin  of  Gonor- 
rlioea.- — A  widespread  belief  is  prevalent,  even  among  a  large 
class  of  intelligent  laymen,  that  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis 
are  closely  related;  but  the  two  diseases  are  entirely  dis- 
tinct. 

The  modern  scientific  impetus  to  medicine  has  forever 
put  an  end  to  all  doubts  regarding  this. 

In  1879  Neisser,  of  Breslau,  discovered  au  organism,  or 
micrococcus,  which  he  found  constantly  and  invariablj^  in 
the  pus  discharge  of  gonorrhoea  of  the  generative  organs 
and  gonorrhal  conjunctivitis ;  this  organism  he  named  the 
"  gonococcus,"  and  scientists  now  call  it  the  "  gonococcus  of 
Neisser. " 

Gonorrhoea  is  therefore  distinctly  proved  to  be  a  microhic 
disease,  having  for  its  sole  cause  this  minute  vegetable 
"gonococcus,"  just  as  phthisis  has  been  proved  to  be  due 
to  the  "  tubercle  bacillus, "  and  as  diphtheria,  typhoid  fever, 
erysipelas,  anthrax,  etc.,  are  caused  each  by  its  own  pecu- 
liar and  distinctive  organism. 

The  gonococcus  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  vegetable  mi- 
cro-organisms which  cause  disease,  but  nevertheless  it  is 
exceeding  minute.  The  organism  can  be  seen  with  a  micro- 
scope which  magnifies  five  hundred  diameters,  but  it  is  more 
satisfactory  to  employ  an  oil-immersion  lens  which  has  an 
amplification  of  from  one  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  di- 
ameters. When  seen  unstained  it  has  a  peculiar  pearl-like 
sheen,  and  a  quick,  rotatory  motion,  but  in  order  to  observe 


316  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

it  satisfactoril}^,  it  is  necessary,  iu  addition  to  the  liigli- 
power  maguilication,  to  stain  it  with  an  aniline  dye.  The 
organism  measures  0.8  to  1.6  micromillimeters,  or  -j^Vyu  to 
te,\tz  of  an  inch.  The gonococci  are  always  found  in  pairs 
and  are  thence  called  "  diplococci,"  and  each  diplococcus,  or 
pair  of  organisms  which  are  coupled  together,  resembles  in 
shape  a  French  roll,  or  coffee-bean.  Furthermore  their 
"grouping"  is  characteristic,  as  they  are  never  found  in 
chains,  but  always  in  small  clusters  or  clumps,  and  the 
number  of  the  organisms  is  usually  divisible  by  four. 

As  is  well  known  to  most  persons,  a  minute  quantity  of 
yeast  fungus,  saccJiaro))i//ces  cerevisice,  added  to  dough, 
causes  it  to  "  leaven,"  or  "  rise,"  hj  fermentation,  that  effect 
being  due  to  an  enormous  increase  in  the  number  of  yeast 
cells  within  a  short  time;  so  also  if  a  few  gonococci  are 
implanted  on  a  mucous  membrane,  they  rapidly  multijDly 
in  a  manner  j^eculiar  to  these  bacterial  organisms  by 
"  cleaving"  or  dividing  in  a  geometrical  ratio  into  countless 
other  "  daughter"  cells.  All  this  would  occur  within  a  few 
hours'  time.  Thus,  one  gonococcus  cleaves  into  two;  these 
again  subdivide  so  as  to  form  four ;  and  these  again  further 
split  uji  into  eight,  sixteen,  thirty -two,  sixty-four,  and  so 
on  until  countless  thousands  are  soon  propagated. 

These  gonococci,  like  other  bacteria,  have  a  great  affinity 
for  aniline  dyes,  such  as  methyl  violet,  fuchsin,  gentian 
violet,  and  methyl  blue,  but  they  lose  this  stain  readily 
when  dipi)ed  into  alcohol  and  acids  according  to  "  Gram's 
method,"  the  details  o!  which  would  be  intelligible  only  to 
a  microscopist. 

Suffice  it  to  say  that  their  staining  in  the  aniline  dyes, 
and  decolorization  bj^  Gram's  method,  is  a  valuable 
means  of  distinguishing  them  from  other  organisms. 
The  mucous  membrane  of  the  male  and  female  genitalia, 
and  that  of  the  eye,  furnish  the  best  possible  "soil,"  or 
medium  for  their  culture,  a  constant,  warm  temperature, 
moisture,  and  fluids  upon  which  the  organism  thrives. 


GONOERHCEA.  317 

These  gonococci,  after  their  proliferation  ui)OU  the  tis- 
sues, set  up  a  virulent  inflammation,  soon  resulting  in  the 
formation  of  pus,  which  pours  out  from  the  aflfected  i)arts. 
In  the  interior  of  the  pus  cells  will  be  seen  microscopically, 
after  staining  reagents  have  been  employed,  innumerable 
colonies  of  gonoccocci,  which  multiply  so  rapidl}'  that  they 
eventually  burst  open  the  pus-cells  from  over-distention. 

In  the  acute  stages  of  gonorrhoea  there  is  no  difficulty  in 
recognizing  them  with  the  microscope,  in  the  i)us  discharge, 
but  in  the  chronic  stages  they  may  be  much  harder  to  find, 
and  perhaps  may  not  be  found  at  all  in  some  of  the  speci- 
mens examined. 

In  cases  of  old-standing  gonorrhoea  where  the  gonococci 
cannot  be  found  microscopically,  they  frequently  again 
come  into  evidence  if  the  patient  indulge  in  excessive 
venery,  or  in  drinking  alcoholic  liquors,  or  in  excessive  ex- 
ercise. As  a  rule  it  is  not  difficult  to  diagnose  a  case  of 
gonorrhoea  where  there  is  a  history  of  an  impure  inter- 
course and  a  pus-like  discharge,  but  the  determination  of 
the  disease  is  absolutely  confirmed  by  the  finding  of  gono- 
cocci in  the  pus  discharge. 

Remember,  then,  (o)  that  gonococci  are  the  cause  of 
gonorrhoea,  because  they  are  invariablij  found  in  the  pus 
discharge  of  clap,  and  never  are  found  in  diseases  which 
are  not  gonorrhoeal ;  (&)  that  contamination  with  pus  which 
does  not  contain  gonococci  never  produces  gonorrhoea, 
while  pus  containing  gonococci  does;  (c)  that  the  gono- 
cocci may  be  conveyed  by  any  vehicle,  but  that  infection  is 
almost  always  due  to  impure  intercourse. 

Signs,  Sym23toms  and  Mode  of  Onset  of  Gonorrhoea. — 
Gonorrhoea,  like  all  virulent  processes,  e.g.,  small-pox, 
scarlet  fever,  diphtheria,  typhoid  fever,  etc.,  has  a  period 
of  incubation,  of  invasion,  advance,  persistence,  decline  and 
convalescence;  only  in  this  disease,  as  in  syphilis,  the 
period  of  convalescence  is  frequently  very  much  prolonged. 

Every  individual  who  contracts  any  specific  disease  has 


318  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

a  definite  road  to  go  over,  wliicli  lie  must  pass,  willv- 
nillv. 

For  illustration  let  us  take  a  country'  in  wliicli  table- 
lands or  plateaus  exist,  wliere  the  top  of  tlie  mountain  is 
occux)ied  by  an  extent  of  nearly  level  land  instead  of  a 
j)eak.  As  one  advances  toward  tliis  mountain  the  level 
plain  rei^resents  health;  the  first  foot-hills  represent  the 
invasion  of  the  disease;  the  abrupt  ascent  of  the  mountain 
represents  the  advance  of  the  disease,  and  the  plateau  on 
toj)  its  persistence :  then  the  descent  of  the  mountain  repre- 
sents the  decline  of  the  disease,  the  foot-hills  on  the  other 
side  convalescence,  and  the  broad  plan  farther  on  health 
regained. 

Travellers  make  this  journey  with  varying  degrees  of 
comfort  and  celerity — some  on  mule-back,  some  with 
guides  who  pull  them  uj)  with  ropes,  some  walking  alone, 
and  some  carrj' ing  heavy  packs.  In  a  corresponding  man- 
ner the  diseased  patient  has  a  difiicult  or  easy  experience 
according  to  his  constitution  and  proclivities  acquired  by 
habit,  the  skill  of  the  doctor's  treatment,  and  the  virulence 
of  the  attack.  But  once  having  set  out  on  the  mountainous 
journey,  there  is  no  turning  back  at  any  price. 

Most  of  the  severe  diseases  are  accidental  and  beyond 
control;  but  gonorrhoea,  syphilis,  and  chancroid  are  elective 
diseases,  which  the  patient  decides  that  he  can  run  the  risk 
of  acquiring  "for  the  fun  of  the  thing,"  just  as  the  moun- 
tain climber  ascends  the  Matterhorn  from  choice  and  not 
necessity. 

Climbing  the  Matterhorn,  however,  is  far  safer — for  the 
majority  who  make  that  trip  never  suffer  harm,  while  the 
impure  man  practical!}^  never  escapes  acquiring  disease 
sooner  or  later. 

Let  us,  with  our  telescopes,  observe  the  traveller  on  this 
rough  and  dangerous  journey,  refusing  to  follow  him  until 
we  see  how  the  parties  who  take  the  trip  appear  at  the 
other  side. 


GONORRHCEA.  319 

A  fine,  healthy  young  man,  fit  to  be  a  Imsbaud  and 
father,  heedlessly  decides  that  he  will  take  his  chances  of 
escajjing  disease.  In  a  large  number  of  instances  he  is 
bitten  upon  his  first  experimental  trial,  only  to  find  himself 
a  sacrificial  sin-offering  on  the  altar  of  Venus,  a  mark  for 
the  shafts  of  ridicule  from  his  "friends,"  and  a  shamefaced 
attendant  at  the  doctor's  office,  remorseful  and  repentant, 
but  nevertheless  compelled  to  take  this  difficult  journey  in 
common  with  the  coarse  and  the  vulgar  and  the  dissolute. 

His  punishment  m,ay  be  syphilis  or  chancroid,  but  let  us 
supjjose  that  he  has  acquired  gonorrhoea. 

After  the  impure  intercourse  there  elapses  the  ijeriod  of 
incubation,  between  the  introduction  of  the  virus  into  the 
body  and  the  commencement  of  the  disease.  This  incuba- 
tion period,  which  is  occupied  in  the  maturation  of  the 
gonococci,  may  make  itself  evident  at  any  time  from  two 
to  fourteen  days  after  the  impure  cohabitation,  though  it 
usually  manifests  itself  in  from  three  to  five  days.  The 
reason  why  this  period  of  incubation  varies  is  that  some 
are  naturally  less  susceptible  than  others,  as  we  know  to 
be  the  case  in  many  diseases ;  that  in  some  cases  the  gono- 
cocci are  in  such  overwhelming  numbers  as  to  rapidly  over- 
power the  tissues,  while  in  another  case  there  may  be  com- 
paratively few  organisms ;  and,  again,  that  the  duration  of 
the  impure  exposure  modifies  the  time  required  for  incuba- 
tion, as  does  also  the  fact  of  the  vital  forces  having  or  not 
having  been  rendered  less  resistive  by  too  much  alcoholic 
indulgence,  or  by  any  cause  which  influences  the  vulner- 
ability of  the  tissues. 

The  gonococci  are  implanted  during  coitus  either  within 
the  urethra  or  on  the  lips  of  the  meatus.  This  being  a 
favorable  soil  for  their  growth,  they  rapidly  develop  and 
spread  up  the  canal  of  the  urethra,  jiartly  by  invasion  and 
partly  by  capillary  attraction. 

The  onset  of  gonorrhoea  is  usually  accompanied  by  a 
series  of  mild  general  symptoms,  i.e.,  the  whole  system  is 


320  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

affected,  though  the  disease,  except  iu  rare  cases,  is  a  local 
one.  The  j^atient,  at  the  beginning  of  the  attack,  suffers 
with  chilliness,  a  rise  of  temperature,  loss  of  appetite,  and 
mental  def^ression.  Circles  forjn  under  the  eyes  and  the 
complexion  becomes  sallow.  Sleei)  is  disturbed,  partly  on 
account  of  mental  anguish,  and  i:»artlj  by  morbidly  in- 
creased sexual  desire  with  painful  erections.  Then  during 
the  next  two  weeks  the  gonorrhoeal  process  increases  in 
severity,  reaching  its  acme,  in  a  typical  case,  in  the  third 
week,  after  which  the  symptoms  decline,  and  at  the  end  of 
five  or  six  weeks  the  patient  may  no  longer  notice  any  in- 
dications, and  may  consider  himself  cured,  though  this  is 
far  from  the  actual  fact  unless  the  course  of  the  disease  has 
been  modified  by  the  most  skilful  treatment.  At  the  end 
of  the  period  of  incubation,  i.e.,  usually  from  three  to  five 
days  after  the  imjjure  intercourse,  certain  prodromal  syrtrp- 
torns  are  first  noticed,  such  as  a  slight  tickling  sensation  at 
the  orifice  of  the  urethra,  reddening  of  the  lij)S  of  the 
meatus,  and  the  exudation  of  a  tenacious,  stick}',  grayish 
fluid  which  glues  its  lips  together.  Sometimes  these 
symptoms  are  severe,  sometimes  mild.  Usually  after  the 
lapse  of  two  or  three  days,  during  which  this  secretion  is 
poured  out,  there  is  an  intense  burning  sensation  felt,  which 
is  worse  on  urination;  this  is  called  ardor  urina\ 

During  this  prodromal  stage  sensitive  patients  usually 
exhibit  symptoms  of  dei;)ression  of  spirits,  lassitude,  and 
loss  of  appetite,  chieflj'  on  account  of  anxiety  of  mind  and 
fear  of  impending  gonorrhoea. 

After  the  prodromal  symptoms  have  lasted  from  two  to 
eight  days,  there  then  comes  the  acute,  orjforid  stage,  which 
is  accompanied  b}'  the  classical  sj-mptoms  of  heat,  pain, 
redness  and  swelling — "color,  dolor,  rubor,  et  tumor.'"  The 
drof)  or  two  of  grayish  fluid  which  was  first  noticed  at  the 
meatus  now  increases  in  amount  and  becomes  converted 
into  a  milky  or  creamy  pus.  At  first  the  redness  is  con- 
fined to  the  margins  at  the  orifice  of  the  urethra;  but  this 


GONORRHCEA.  321 

soon  spreads  until  often  the  whole  glans  penis,  or  head  of 
the  organ,  and  sometimes  even  the  whole  penis,  is  enor- 
mously swollen  and  exceedingly  painful. 

Patients  with  a  tight  or  long  foreskin  are  liable  to  suffer 
more,  since  the  tissues  which  compose  this  structure  are  of 
such  a  nature  that  they  are  liable  to  swell  to  an  enormous 
degree  and  to  retain  the  irritating  pus  secretion  beneath 
them.  In  some  cases  the  foreskin  is  so  much  swollen  that 
it  cannot  be  drawn  back,  and  then  the  surgeon  is  compelled 
to  slit  it  up  in  order  to  liberate  the  pent-up  secretion. 

Very  early  in  the  acute  stage,  as  a  rule,  the  lymphatic 
glands  in  the  groins  become  swollen  and  tender,  and  one 
can  often  trace,  from  the  glans  penis  to  the  groins,  the  red 
and  swollen  lymphatic  vessels  which  convey  the  poison  to 
them. 

The  discharge  at  about  the  beginning  of  the  second  week 
becomes  thick,  creamy,  profuse,  purulent,  and  often  blood- 
tinged.  It  pours  out  so  freely  from  the  urethra  day  and 
night,  in  the  form  of  large,  heavj^  drops,  that  it  soils  the 
genitals  and  clothing  of  the  patient  and  necessitates  the 
wearing  of  a  protective  dressing  over  the  j^enis. 

Gonorrhoea  begins  in  the  anterior  part  of  the  urethra, 
but  in  from  eighty  to  ninety  per  cent  of  cases  travels  down 
the  canal  until  almost  its  whole  length  is  in  an  intense 
state  of  inflammation.  In  this  event,  i.e.,  when  the  inflam- 
mation has  spread  down  the  urinary  passage,  even  the  sub- 
stance of  the  penis,  as  well  as  the  urethra,  will  be  acutely 
inflamed  and  swollen,  and  the  patient  then  finds  himself  in 
the  undignified  position  of  haviug  an  absorbing  interest  in 
his  genital  apparatus  to  the  exclusion  of  all  else. 

It  is  important  to  understand  that  the  urethra  is  a  tube 
— or  rather  a  potential  tube,  for  its  walls  lie  in  apj^osition 
when  not  distended  by  urine — with  a  calibre  of  about  the 
size  of  an  ordinary  lead-pencil,  extending  a  distance  of 
eight  or  nine  inches  from  the  bladder  to  the  exterior,  and 
serving  as  a  passage,  or  conduit,  for  the  urine  and  semen. 
21 


322  HEREDITY   AND  MORALS. 

So  it  is  evident  tliat  the  result  of  a  severe  inflammatory 
swelling  of  its  walls,  and  of  the  surrounding  tissues,  will 
be  to  narrow  very  materially  the  calibre  of  this  tube. 

Urination,  consequently,  is  now  a  matter  of  acute  pain 
and  even  agon}-,  giving  a  sensation  as  though  a  red-hot 
iron  had  been  i)assed  down  the  urethra,  or  as  if  the  urine 
were  scalding  the  canal.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  in- 
creased acidity  of  the  urine,  but  chiefly  to  the  forcible  dis- 
tention of  the  inflamed  and  suppurating  canal.  In  such 
a  case  the  j^atient  exerts  ever}'  efi'ort  to  pass  his  water 
slowly,  and  to  effect  this  he  holds  his  breath,  relaxes  the 
abdominal  muscles,  and  sometimes  even  tries  to  stop  the 
stream  of  urine.  Often  there  is  a  spasm  of  the  compi'essor 
urethne  muscle,  so  that  strangiiry,  or  an  inability  to  pass 
urine,  is  caused,  which  condition  maj^  require  relief  by  the 
passage  of  a  catheter.  Owing  to  the  swelling  of  the  ure- 
thral mucous  membrane  and  the  resulting  narrowing  of  the 
canal,  the  stream  of  urine  becomes  very  thin,  escaping  in 
drops,  or  in  a  twisted,  sputtering  and  weak  manner,  while 
sometimes  it  dribbles  awaj-  drop  by  drop  involuntarily. 

In  those  instances  where  the  inflammation  has  not  spread 
along  the  whole  canal,  these  symptoms  are  not  so  pro- 
nounced, their  severity  varying  much  in  different  cases, 
being  usuallj^  more  acute  in  a  first  attack  than  in  sub- 
sequent ones,  unless  there  has  been  an  interval  of  several 
years  between  the  infections.  There  is  always  a  muco- 
purulent secretion,  the  abundance  and  pus-like  character 
of  which  affords  a  good  criterion  of  the  severity  of  the  at- 
tack. The  urethra  being  freely  supplied  with  a  network  of 
capillary  blood-vessels,  there  is  frequently",  on  account  of 
the  inflammation,  a  trickling  away  of  a  few  drops  of  blood 
with  the  discharge,  giving  the  linen  a  characteristic  san- 
guineous stain. 

The  amount  of  the  pus  discharged  is  greatest  during  the 
night  and  toward  morning,  and  less  during  the  day,  partly 
because  the  patient  usually  urinates   only  once  or  twice 


GONORRHCEA.  823 

during  tlie  niglit,  while  during  tlie  day  lie  performs  this 
function  at  frequent  intervals,  and  thus  washes  away  the 
discharge  with  the  stream  of  urine,  not  permitting  it  to 
collect  in  abundance.  In  addition  to  this  he  suffers  at 
night  from  the  injurious  effects  of  exercise  during  the  day. 

During  this  inflammatory  stage  of  the  disease  the  patient 
should  be  kept  confined  to  bed  in  order  to  give  the  parts  as 
much  rest  as  possible,  though  it  is  often  impossible  to  ac- 
complish this  without  his  compromising  himself,  unless  he 
takes  a  trip  away  from  home  "  for  the  benefit  of  his  health," 
or  on  some  other  pretext. 

The  acute  stage  usually  reaches  its  worst  during  the 
second  week,  and  then  still  more  serious  troubles  sujier- 
vene.  Almost  the  entire  length  of  the  urethra  is  now 
swollen  and  inflamed ;  it  is  tender  upon  pressure  and  there 
is  a  feeling  of  anguish  in  the  testicles,  which  is  rendered 
worse  by  walking  or  jarring. 

A  patient  in  this  stage  can  usually  be  recognized  by  a 
careful  observer ;  when  he  sits  down  he  does  so  with  the 
greatest  deliberation,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  i:)rotect  his 
perinseum  from  pressure ;  if  he  crosses  his  legs,  it  is  done 
with  the  greatest  care  and  with  the  assistance  of  his 
hands.  His  inguinal  glands  are  swollen  and  tender,  and 
he  suffers  with  pain  in  the  back.  He  is  now  really  ill  and 
bed  is  the  proper  place  for  him.  As  in  every  disease 
where  there  is  suppuration,  his  temperature  rises,  he  has 
chills,  and  is  pale,  worried,  anxious,  without  appetite,  and 
constipated.  Whatever  comfort  the  patient  may  have  dur- 
ing the  day  is  apt  to  turn  into  torture  during  the  night. 
In  the  earlier  days  and  nights  of  the  stage  of  acute  ure- 
thritis he  has  a  morbidly  increased  sexual  desire  and 
increased  ability  for  copulation.  These  symptoms  are 
usually  provoked  by  the  warmth  of  the  bed,  but  even  in- 
dependently of  this  the  symptoms  are  aggravated  at  night. 
So  great  is  the  increase  of  the  voluptuous  sensations  that 
patients  often  seek  relief  by  masturbation  or  fornication. 


324  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

Many  of  them,  feeling  that  they  must  have  relief,  visit  the 
brothels  in  spite  of  the  known  dangers  to  the  women,  and 
to  those  who  use  them  afterward.  It  is  well  for  men  to 
la}^  this  jjoint  to  heart,  since  a  most  dangerous  class  of 
poisoned  and  venomous  men  are  going  about,  unrestrained 
by  the  law,  with  uncontrollable  passions. 

These  voluptuous  sensations,  at  first  quite  agreeable, 
early  become  eminently  unpleasant,  and  the  sexual  irrita- 
tion soon  causes  the  patient  the  most  aggravated  suffering. 

Verj'  frecjuent  and  surprisingly  vigorous  erections  occur 
and  the  penis  becomes  distorted,  much  to  the  mental  an- 
guish and  chagrin  of  the  patient,  for  every  man  thinks  more 
of  the  normal  shape  of  his  i)rivate  organs  than  of  any  other 
part  of  the  body.  The  penis  is  sometimes  forcibly  drawn 
against  the  abdomen  by  the  powerful  erections,  and 
frequently  undergoes  a  series  of  most  painful  spasmodic 
convulsions.  With  these  erections  there  are  apt  to  be 
frequent  debilitating  and  involuntary  ejaculations  of  semen, 
and  these  erections  and  ejaculations  are  sometimes  so 
intense  that  they  cause  rujiture  of  the  inflamed  and  con- 
gested urethra,  so  that  blood  is  mingled  wdth  the  pus  and 
semen.     This  variety  is  called  "Eussian  clap." 

Sometimes  the  erections  are  so  strong  that  they  last  for 
hours  at  a  time,  and  in  some  cases  there  is  a  symptom, 
called  chordee,  in  which  the  penis  becomes  arched  like  a 
bow,  with  the  concavity  downward. 

In  this  condition  the  virile  organ  becomes  rigid  and  bent, 
partly  on  account  of  an  increased  flow  of  blood  to  one  part 
of  the  penis — corpus  cavernosum — which  makes  it  less  ex- 
tensible than  the  corpus  spongiosuiii,  and  partly  owing  to  a 
spasm  of  the  longitudinal  muscular  fibres  in  the  urethra. 

Chordee,  though  not  occurring  in  the  majority  of  cases, 
is  a  most  distressing  symptom,  sometimes  so  maddening 
the  sufferer  by  the  discomfort  and  pain  that  he  strives  to 
"break  the  cord"  by  straightening  the  penis  forcibly,  or  by 
laying  the  distorted  organ  on  a  book  and  giving  it  a  smart 


GONORRHCEA.  325 

blow.  This  manoeuvre,  however,  is  exceedingly  dangerous, 
since  it  is  apt  to  cause  a  tear  in  the  urethra  which  may  be 
followed  by  a  serious  hemorrhage  and  which  will  surely 
result  in  stricture ;  and  cases  are  reported  where  death  has 
followed  from  gangrene  of  the  penis,  or  from  bladder  and 
kidney  infection,  or  from  general  blood  poisoning. 

The  patient's  nights  are  full  of  misery ;  the  warmth  of 
the  bed  and  the  state  of  sleep  promote  the  tendency  to  pain- 
ful erections  and  chordee,  and  as  soon  as  the  patient  has 
awakened  and  relieved  himself  of  one  attack  by  walking  on 
the  cold  floor  and  the  use  of  cooling  applications,  he  falls 
asleep  only  to  be  re-awakened  by  the  same  occurrence  time 
after  time.  His  nights  are  so  much  disturbed  that  he  rises 
in  the  morning  tired  and  dejected,  and  unfit  for  the  duties 
of  the  day. 

There  is  a  discharge  of  greenish — often  blood-tinged — 
pus  during  this  acute  stage  of  the  disease.  The  discharge 
of  pus  from  the  urethra  is  often  surprisingly  profuse,  but 
this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  when  one  considers  the  exten- 
sive amount  of  tissue  involved. 

Every  case  of  acute  septic  -urethritis,  or  clap,  does  not 
run  precisely  this  course,  but  this  is  a  typical  description 
of  a  typical  case.  Proper  treatment  of  course  modifies  the 
severity  of  the  symptoms. 

In  some  cases  the  voiding  of  urine  causes  only  moderate 
suffering,  and  the  erections  are  painless  and  cause  little 
discomfort;  but  every  individual  who  elects  to  acquire 
gonorrhoea  makes  himself  liable  to  the  severest  and  most 
dangerous  forms,  and  but  little  comfort  can  be  derived 
from  having  a  mild  attack — for  the  remote  complications 
may  become  apparent  mouths  or  years  afterward,  and  the 
future  wife  ma^'  be  rendered  an  incurable  invalid. 

In  a  tyi)ical  case  of  gonorrhoea,  to  sum  up,  there  is  a 
period  of  incubation,  usually  of  three  to  five  daj's'  dura- 
tion, during  which  there  are  no  symptoms  by  which  the 
disease  can  be  recognized ;  this  is  followed  by  a  prodromal 


326  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

stage  of  about  two  clays'  duration  in  wliicli  tlie  first  evi- 
dences of  symptoms  appear.  Tlie  process  increases  in 
severity  for  about  fourteen  days  and  reaches  its  most  acute 
stage  during  tlie  third  week ;  but  then,  if  the  patient  has 
received  proper  care  as  to  rest,  diet,  and  hygiene,  the 
severity  of  this  acute  stage  becomes  modified  at  the  end  of 
the  second  or  beginning  of  the  third  week  after  the  acute 
symptoms  developed. 

At  the  end  of  two  or  three  weeks  more  the  symptoms 
may  disappear,  and  in  an  uncomi^licated  and  fortunate 
case  the  entire  process  would  last  from  five  to  six  weeks. 

As  recovery  begins,  the  discharge  becomes  more  scanty, 
less  greenish,  and  thinner  in  consistence,  and  eventually, 
under  favorable  circumstances,  becomes  a  grayish  muco- 
pus  which  stains  the  shirt  and  bed-linen  and  glues  together 
the  lips  of  the  meatus. 

The  foregoing  description  applies  only  to  gonorrhoea  of 
the  anterior  urethra,  where  the  process  always  originates 
and  luxuriates  for  the  first  few  weeks ;  if  the  disease  spread  to 
the  i)osterior  urethra,  as  it  does  in  a  large  majority  of  cases, 
the  results  are  much  more  serious,  as  will  later  appear. 

By  attention  to  all  the  rules  of  hygiene  and  by  proper 
treatment,  acute  anterior  urethritis — uncomplicated  clap — 
may,  under  the  most  fortunate  circumstances,  be  recovered 
from  in  from  six  to  eight  weeks,  but  such  an  event  is  the 
exception  and  not  the  rule. 

After  the  acute  stage  has  lasted  from  one  to  three  months, 
it  passes  into  the  declining  stage,  which  may  drag  along  for 
many  long  months  more,  or  even  for  years. 

In  the  declining  stage  there  is  not  usually  much  pain, 
the  chief  symptom  being  a  more  or  less  copious  discharge 
which  soils  the  patient's  shirt  and  bed-linen,  but  all  through 
this  declining  stage  the  recovery  is  apt  to  be  interrujjted  by 
severe  relapses,  especially  if  he  take  active  exercise,  be- 
come constipated,  catch  cold,  or  indulge  in  excesses  in 
Venere  et  in  Baccho. 


GONORRHCEA.  327 

These  relapses  are  regarded  by  many  patients  as  fresh 
attacks  of  gonorrlicBa,  and  it  is  to  tliese  that  one  refers 
when  he  says  that  he  heeds  a  case  of  clap  as  little  as  a  bad 
cold ;  and  from  these  relapses  quacks  and  charlatans  make 
a  great  reputation,  for  the  discharge  is  readily  checked  by 
slightly  astringent  injections.  If,  however,  the  urethra 
were  to  be  examined  by  the  urethroscope  in  the  hands  of 
an  expert,  areas  of  inflammatory  tissue  would  be  seen  in 
the  deeper  j^arts,  although  there  might  be  no  external  dis- 
charge whatever. 

In  reality,  in  these  cases,  the  patient  never  has  recovered, 
but  healing  is  taking  place  with  relapses  whose  intensity 
grows  gradualh"  less  and  less  severe  with  each  succeeding 
attack.  One  is  more  apt  to  suflfer  set-backs  if  he  be  of  a 
weak  constitution,  if  he  have  previously  suffered  from 
syphilis,  if  he  have  pollutions,  if  he  indulge  in  coitus,  or 
in  alcoholics,  or  take  too  active  exercise,  or  spicy  food,  or 
if  he  be  constipated.  Should  he  be  so  unfortunate  as  to 
acquire  any  other  simultaneous  illness,  he  will  also  very 
probably  suffer  a  relapse.  Of  course,  many  cases  of  acute 
gonorrhoea  varj-  a  good  deal  in  the  intensity  and  in  the 
duration  of  the  different  stages  from  the  preceding  typical 
description ;  for  instance,  sometimes  the  period  of  incuba- 
tion and  the  prodromal  stage  last  longer  and  are  less 
severe,  while  in  other  instances  all  the  symjitoms  develop 
more  rapidly  and  are  intensified,  so  as  to  be  even  more 
severe  than  what  has  been  depicted. 

Sometimes  the  amount  of  pus  poured  out  is  small  in 
amount  and  there  is  not  much  discomfort,  so  that  an  un- 
observant patient  might  miss  the  fact  that  he  had  an  at- 
tack of  gonorrhoea,  while  in  other  cases,  there  may  be, 
in  addition  to  the  worst  symptoms  already  described,  in- 
voluntary pollutions,  gonorrhoeal  rheumatism,  gonorrhoeal 
ophthalmia  or  conjunctivitis,  or  gonorrhoeal  inflammation 
of  the  brain  or  heart,  ending  fatally. 

Eemember  that  even  the  mildest  case  of  clap  may  result 


328  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

clisastronsly  by  spreading  to  tlie  deep,  or  posterior  portion 
of  the  urethra,  causing  any  of  these  complications,  or 
stricture,  prostatitis  and  sterility.  It  is  erroneous  to  sup- 
pose that  gonorrhoea  limits  itself  to  the  anterior  urethra. 
The  whole  extent  of  the  urethra  becomes  involved  in  the 
large  majority  of  instances. 

All  the  symi^toms  heretofore  described  have  been  quite 
apparent  to  the  patient,  but,  in  order  to  follow  the  course 
of  the  disease  accurately  and  scientifically,  it  is  necessary 
for  the  physician  to  make  frequent  microscopical  examina- 
tions of  the  discharges  and  of  the  urine. 

During  the  height  of  the  attack  the  microscope  reveals 
pus  corpuscles  and  gonococci  in  enormous  numbers,  and  the 
treatment  will  be  largely  directed  by  their  persistence  or 
decline.  By  degrees  the  pus  cells  and  gonococci  become 
less  numerous ;  but  the  latter  are  very  liable  to  recnidesce, 
or  crop  up  afresh  with  renewed  activity,  months  after  their 
apparent  disappearance. 

In  the  early  stages  there  will  be  noticed  in  the  urine  nu- 
merous little  rice-like  bodies,  resembling  fluffy  threads  or 
balls;  these  are  called  "clap-threads"  {Tripperfaden  hy  the 
Germans) ,  and  consist  of  fjus  and  exfoliated  epithelial  cells 
held  together  by  mucus,  for  which  the  careful  physician 
must  look  with  his  microscope,  day  by  daj^,  until  they 
have  entirely  disappeared. 

The  accurate  and  systematic  observation  of  the  urine 
affords  one  of  the  most  reliable  means  of  information  in 
regard  to  the  favorable  or  discouraging  progress  of  the 
case,  but  the  processes  are  far  too  technical  in  character 
for  the  layman  to  grasj).  Suffice  it  to  say  that  by  an  intel- 
ligent and  careful  daily  examination  of  the  urine  the  well- 
equipped  physician  can  conclude  as  to  the  progress  of  the 
case,  even  -udthout  questioning  the  patient  in  regard  to  his 
feelings  and  sensations.  Unfortunately  relajises  in  gonor- 
rhoea are  very  common,  and  clap-threads  and  pus-cells  are 
often  present  in  the  urine  for  months  and  years,  during  all 


GONORRHEA.  329 

of  wliicli  time  the  patient  is,  in  very  truth,  a  poisonous 
animal  and  exceedingly  dangerous  to  any  one  with  whom 
he  may  cohabit. 

"  It  cannot  be  repeated  too  often :  clap  is  a  dangerous 
disease !  Aside  from  the  many  complications  and  conse- 
quences which  it  laaj  bring  to  the  persons  affected,  it  can 
make  the  patient  hopelessly  blind  in  twenty-four  hours. 
These  facts  alone,  among  a  multitude  of  others  equally 
alarming,  which  affect  the  patient's  self-love,  being  duly 
impressed  ujion  his  mind,  we  may  go  a  step  farther.  A 
dispjiearance  of  all  external  evidence  of  the  disease  by  no 
means  makes  the  ex-patient  unable  to  cause  his  wife's 
death.  Lurking  in  the  crypts,  follicles  and  glands  of  his 
urethra  may  be  gonococci.  In  the  sexual  relation  these 
murderous  bacteria  are  wholly  or  i)artially  emptied  out. 
Enough  of  them  may  be  projected  to  pass  with  the  semen 
to  the  regions  where  a  future  human  being  should  be  given 
life,  and  the  prospective  mother  then  has  within  her  the 
fungus  of  destruction." ' 

The  average  i)hysiciau  tells  the  patient  that  he  is  cured 
and  allows  him  to  pass  out  of  his  care  far  too  early ;  and 
the  great  majority  of  patients,  weary  of  the  exjiense  and 
eager  to  believe  themselves  free  from  a  filthy  disease,  as- 
sume the  responsibility  of  defining  when  they  are  cured  by 
the  assertion  that  it  is  all  over  when  there  is  no  discharge 
visible  at  the  meatus. 

The  use  of  internal  remedies  alone,  such  as  are  i:)rescribed 
by  many  physicians  and  druggists,  is  not  in  any  event  ade- 
quate to  cure  gonorrhoea;  with  these  must  be  combined 
irrigations  and  ai^iDlications  to  the  diseased  areas. 

Acute  Posterior  Urethritis. — In  a  typical  case  of  uncom- 
plicated gonorrhoea  the  disease  is  confined  to  the  anterior 
part  of  the  urethra,  but  in  eighty  to  ninety  per  cent  of 

1  Ferd.  C.  Valentine,  M.  D. ,  Professor  of  Genito-Urinary  Diseases, 
New  York  School  of  Clinical  Medicine ;  Medico-Si.rgical  Bulletin, 
October  1,  1895. 


330  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

cases  tlie  inflammatory  process  invades  tlie  posterior  ure- 
thra, and  forms  an  ominous  complication. 

"  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  opinion  heretofore  enter- 
tained, that  gonorrhoea,  as  a  rule,  limits  itself  to  the  ante- 
rior urethra,  localizing  itself  chiefly  at  the  bulbous  portion, 
is  wholly  incorrect,  since  the  reverse  is  true — namely,  that, 
as  a  rule,  the  infection  spreads  in  between  eighty  and  ninety 
per  cent  of  cases  through  the  entire  length  of  the  urethra, 
and  only  exceptionally^  in  a  minimum  of  cases  is  limited 
to  the  anterior  urethra."  ' 

The  symx)toms  are  not  usually  noticeable  when  the  dis- 
ease spreads  backward  to  the  deeper  portion  of  the  ure- 
thra, and  it  is  important  to  remember  that  this  j^osterior 
urethritis  causes  the  discharge  from  the  anterior  urethra 
to  cease,  thus  misleading  the  careless  physician,  or  drug- 
gist, or  patient  into  the  momentous  error  of  supposing  that 
a  cure  has  been  effected. 

The  blame  for  this  attaches  partly  to  the  patient  and 
partly  to  the  physician;  the  former  will  not  heed  advice, 
will  not  rest,  and  will  often  continue  in  the  indulgence  of 
his  sexual  passions ;  and  it  is  the  plain  truth  that  a  large 
number  of  the  latter  treat  clap  in  a  routine  and  harmful 
v/'Sij.  In  the  tyjiical  case  heretofore  described,  the  reader 
will  remember  that  improvement  sets  in  after  the  third 
w^eek,  or  acme  of  the  process;  but  this  is  a  critical  time — 
and  a  change  for  the  w^orse,  wdth  ominous  symptoms,  may 
occur. 

Recovery  is  then  very  slow  and  the  conditions  are  favor- 
able for  the  development  of  stricture,  epididymitis,  in- 
flammation of  the  testicles,  bladder,  seminal  vesicles  and 
prostate  gland.  In  posterior  urethritis  there  is  a  profuse 
suppuration  going  on  without  the  patient's  knowledge;  for 
the  pus  does  not  pour  out  of  the  end  of  the  urethra  as  it 
does  in  anterior  urethritis,  but  flow^s  backward  into  the 
bladder.  In  this  condition  the  patient  will  j)robably  suffer 
•  Taylor,  "  "Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  125. 


GONORRHCEA.  331 

witli  a  burning  pain  between  the  testicles  and  in  the  peri- 
nseum,  and  will  liave  a  frequent  and  intense  desire  to 
urinate — tenesmus — witliout  being  able  to  void  liis  urine. 
Sometimes  tliere  is  such  a  high  degree  of  congestion  of  the 
urethra  that  blood  is  mingled  with  the  urine. 

In  some  cases  the  tenesmus,  or  ineffectual  straining,  is 
most  distressing,  and  the  sufferer  has  a  constant  desire  to 
urinate  without  relief  being  obtained.  Sometimes  he  sits 
on  the  commode  almost  constantly,  passing  a  few  drops  of 
bloody  urine  now  and  then,  and  bathed  in  a  profuse  sweat, 
while  at  other  times,  and  in  other  cases,  there  is  inconti- 
nence of  urine,  or  a  condition  in  whicli  he  cannot  retain  his 
urine  from  constantly  dribbling  away. 

Frequent  pollutions  are  often  induced  in  this  condition, 
causing  relapse  after  relapse,  so  that  the  disease  may  last 
for  weeks,  or  months,  or  indefinitely.  Such  a  patient  is 
very  liable  to  be  sterile.  In  men  who  have  hypertrophy  of 
the  prostate,  or  a  stricture  from  an  old  attack  of  gonorrhoea, 
posterior  urethritis  is  a  most  distressing  and  sometimes 
alarming  and  dangerous  comi:)lication,  the  combination  of 
acute  and  chronic  disorders  leading  to  general  blood-poison- 
ing and  an  ascending  gonorrhoea  which  attacks  the  kidneys. 

Repeated  infections  of  gonorrhoea  are  more  dangerous 
than  a  single  attack ;  for  then  there  is  liable  to  be  a  sub- 
acute form,  lasting  indefinitely  and  becoming  aggravated,  as 
it  continues,  by  varioiis  sequelfe  and  complications  which 
may  lead  to  a  fatal  termination. 

Gonorrhoeal  rheumatism  and  involvement  of  the  heart, 
by  endocarditis  or  pericarditis,  are  very  liable  to  cause 
permanent  impairment  of  health  and  even  death;  while 
sterility-  may  follow  upon  inflammation  of  the  testicles, 
epididymes  and  seminal  vesicles,  and  further  grievous 
damage  is  not  infrequently  caused  by  abscesses  of  the 
prostate,  peritonitis,  bladder  and  kidnej"  comi)lications, 
and  affections  of  the  eyes. 

The  prognosis  in  each  case,  of  course,  depends  on  the 


332  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

conduct  and  prudence  of  tlie  patient  as  well  as  the  skill  in 
treatment.  Wlien  one  considers  that  the  sexual  appetite, 
in  some  of  these  cases,  is  uncontrollably  strong  and  pas- 
sionate, and  that  the  patient  is  degenerated  by  evil  ways 
of  living  and  thinking,  he  can  readily  see  that  the  physi- 
cian must  be  guarded  in  the  expression  of  his  oi^inion  as 
to  the  chances  of  a  recover}'  which  approaches  a  cui*e. 

If  jjroper  care  and  treatment  are  employed,  a  provisional 
cure  may  often,  under  favorable  circumstances,  be  looked 
for  in  a  month  or  two. 

Tlie  Treatment  of  Acute  Gonorrhoea. — A  clearer  conception 
of  the  gonorrhoeal  process  can  be  obtained  bj'  an  insight 
into  the  general  line  of  treatment  than  by  any  other  way. 

Bemember  that  gonorrhoea,  as  a  rule,  remains  a  local  dis- 
ease, but  that  tlie  gonococci  in  the  urethra  elaborate  certain 
poisonous  chemical  substances — ptomaines — which  some- 
times produce  a  general  constitutional  effect  of  septicaemia, 
or  blood-poisoning,  and  that  sometimes  the  gonococci 
themselves  enter  the  circulation  and  are  carried  in  the 
blood-stream  to  the  heart,  the  eyes,  the  brain  and  the  large 
joints,  where  they  produce  disastrous  results. 

The  absolute  diagnosis  of  gonorrhoea  can  be  made  only 
when  the  physician  has  demonstrated  the  presence  of  gono- 
cocci in  the  mucus  or  pus  discharge  by  microscopical  ex- 
amination ;  though  of  course  one  can  be  practically  certain 
of  the  character  of  the  disease  from  the  information  gained 
by  clinical  experience. 

After  cohabitation  with  a  susi)icious  woman,  a  man  is 
liable  to  be  worried  and  anxious  and  unable  to  enjoy  a 
single  moment's  peace  of  mind.  As  a  rule,  therefore,  pa- 
tients present  themselves  early  for  treatment,  and  certainly 
as  soon  as  the  discharge  is  well  developed. 

There  is  hardh'  any  disease  for  which  so  many  methods 
of  treatment  have  been  tried  as  for  gonorrhoea ;  and  since 
uninformed  men  have  fallen  into  the  habit  of  considering 
it  a  trifling  ailment,  the  druggist  probably  treats  more  cases 


GONORRHCEA.  333 

in  the  earl.y  stages  than  the  physician,  though  the  latter 
is  bound  to  receive  their  visits  soon,  usually  after  irrepar- 
able damage  has  been  done. 

The  "  man  about  town"  often  has  a  panacea  for  clap, 
which  he  says  has  cured  him  time  after  time,  when,  in 
reality,  he  never  was  cured  of  the  virulent  attack  which  he 
had  acquired  perhaps  years  before — these  fresh  attacks  of 
"bastard  clap"  being  mereh-  outbreaks  of  the  original  un- 
cured  malady.  From  false  reports  such  as  these  the  igno- 
rant are  often  deluded  into  self-medication  by  the  use  of 
internal  remedies  and  injections  which  are  "warranted 
to  cure  in  three  days."  The  penalty  in  such  cases  is 
usually  a  stricture  or  sterility. 

Gonorrhoea  is  inevitably  a  self-limited  disease,  and  just 
as  a  bone  requires  at  least  six  weeks  for  its  firm  union  in 
spite  of  the  most  renowned  surgeon's  skill,  so  this  disease 
also  requires  from  five  to  six  weeks  for  its  cure,  even  under 
the  most  favorable  methods  of  treatment ;  and  if  a  remedy 
can  ever  be  found  which  will  give  such  results  in  ever}'  case, 
it  will  be  hailed  by  the  profession  as  a  medical  triumph. 
The  truth  is  that  gonorrrhoea  is  one  of  the  most  thankless 
of  all  diseases  to  treat  if  one  is  to  expect  recovery  with  no 
evil  consequences  left  behind — i.e.,  a  cure,  or  i^estitutio  ad 
integrum.  This  view  every  specialist  on  venereal  diseases 
supports  with  emphasis.  In  many  ways  this  class  of  pa- 
tients are  most  undesirable :  social  conditions  usually  make 
concealment  necessary,  and  any  disease  treated  in  privacy 
is  always  unsatisfactorily  controlled,  and  the  sexual  appe- 
tite, the  most  powerful  of  all  impulses  in  these  men,  is  by 
the  nature  of  the  disease  abnormally  stimulated,  while  for 
the  subsidence  of  the  inflammatory  j^rocess  this  passion 
should  be  at  rest. 

Patients  with  gonorrhoea  under  all  circumstances  wish  to 
be  soon  rid  of  it,  and  in  many  instances  consider  a  rapid 
cure  imperative.  A  plan  has  been  adopted  to  meet  this 
class  of  cases,  called  the  abortive  method. 


334  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

Tlie  Abortive  31etJiod. — This  metliod  aims  to  cut  short  tlie 
disease  at  its  very  inception,  before  tlie  gonoccoci  Lave  had 
time  to  develop — but  this  can  rarely  be  effected. 

Any  attempt  to  abort  gonorrhoea  after  pus  has  been  seen 
at  the  meatus  is  useless,  but  the  i)atient's  importunity 
sometimes  leads  the  physician  of  small  experience  to  make 
the  trial. 

This  method — which  need  not  be  described — is  very  pain- 
ful; and  inflammation,  sometimes  slight,  sometimes  severe, 
is  sure  to  follow,  so  that  there  will  be  a  sloughing  of  the 
parts  touched  and  an  escape  of  pus  from  its  effects.  If 
the  attempt  at  aborting  the  gonorrhoea  fail,  the  acute  stage 
will  then  be  rendered  much  more  severe. 

The  abortive  method,  consequently,  is  unjustifiable  un- 
less it  be  used  within  a  few  hours  after  the  impure  inter- 
course and  before  gonorrhcea  has  actually  been  diagnosed. 

General  Ilanagemeut  and  Considerations  on  the  Treatment 
of  Glajp. — The  abortive  method  having  failed,  as  it  ordi- 
narily does,  the  acute  stage,  which  we  now  have  to  treat,  is 
rendered  worse.  However,  in  most  cases,  the  abortive 
method  will  not  have  been  tried,  since  the  patient  rarely 
consults  the  physician  until  the  acute  stage  is  well  estab- 
lished. 

ImxDelled  b}'  the  solicitations  and  anxiet}^  of  the  patient, 
the  doctor  will  frequently  employ  active  treatment  at  the 
outset,  using  a  clap-syringe  and  nauseating  potions;  but 
the  severity  of  the  disease  is  often  enhanced  by  these 
means,  for  doctors  are  human  in  spite  of  the  trust  and  con- 
fidence which  the  ordinary  patient  reposes  in  them. 

Even  the  medical  student,  who  has  just  received  his 
license  to  practise,  will  often  lightly  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  treating  gonorrhoea,  while  he  M'ould  exercise  a 
greater  degree  of  care  and  assure  himself  that  he  was  well 
informed  on  modern  methods  before  performing  delicate 
surgery  or  treating  diseases  of  the  eye.  Modern  require- 
ments have  of  late  years  been  far  more  severe,  however,  and 


GONORRHCEA.  335 

It  is  too  often  true  that  raauy  au  old-time  practitioner,  who 
perhaps  does  not  even  possess  a  microscoiie,  is  less  fitted 
than  the  younger  man  to  jjronouuce  when  the  case  is  cured. 

Both  the  physician  and  the  jiatient  are  far  too  readj^  to 
assume,  for  their  self-glorification,  that  the  disease  is  cured 
when  the  external  discharge  is  no  longer  visible;  but  this 
is  far  from  being  the  case,  and  the  mistake  is  liable  to 
result  in  untold  harm,  even  after  a  long  interval,  to  the 
patient  himself  and  to  any  woman  with  whom  he  may 
cohabit. 

It  is  important  to  let  the  i)atient  early  understand  that 
his  ailment  is  in  no  degree  trifling,  but  that  it  is  a  menace 
to  his  whole  future  enjoyment  of  health,  to  his  virility, 
to  his  life  itself,  and  to  his  family  circle  should  he  ever 
marry.  The  modern  specialist  on  venereal  disease  will 
treat  a  case  of  gonorrha3a  quite  differently  from  many  prac- 
titioners who  have  failed  to  ijroperly  inform  themselves. 
The  details  of  treatment — lying  solely  in  the  physician's 
province — it  is  needless  to  specify  here;  but  too  much 
stress  cannot  be  laid  upon  the  imi:)ortauce  of  warning  the 
patient  that  the  discharge  from  his  penis  is  a  virulent 
poison,  and  that,  in  order  to  i)rotect  his  eyes  from  contami- 
nation, he  must  carefully  wash  his  hands  after  every  manip- 
ulation of  the  dressings  or  handling  of  the  penis.  The 
man  is  "unclean,"  and  his  towels  and  bed-linen  must  be 
used  by  him  alone  and  washed  separately.  All  the  dress- 
ings and  cloths  which  are  contaminated  by  the  discharge 
must  be  burned. 

After  a  patient  has  acquired  gonorrhoea  it  is  compara- 
tively easy  to  be  able  to  inform  him  of  the  fact,  but  a  mat- 
ter of  considerable  nicety  to  say  when  he  is  free  from  it ; 
and  yet  this  latter  decision  is  one  of  extreme  moment,  both 
to  himself  and  to  those  with  whom  he  may  cohabit. 

It  is  a  very  nice  matter  indeed  to  manage  a  case  of 
gonorrhoea  just  as  it  should  be,  for  improper  treatment, 
whether  of  too  short  or  too  long  duration,  or  too  active  oi 


336  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

too  mild,  will  probably  convert  a  simple  case  into  a  clironic 
one  wliicli  may  last  indefiniteh'  and  be  complicated  with 
stricture,  sterility  and  sexual  irritative  symptoms. 

Venereal  patients  are  noted  for  their  lying  propensities, 
often  referring  the  origin  of  their  diseases  to  the  contami- 
nation from  water-closets ;  indulging  secretly  in  intercourse 
when  the  physician  has  prohibited  it ;  lying  about  their 
habits  and  symptoms^  either  from  shame  or  from  a  desire 
to  lessen  the  amount  of  their  expenditures ;  and  in  every 
way  proving  so  unsatisfactory  in  their  conduct  that,  in 
spite  of  all  the  physician  can  do,  thej'  frequenth^  go  from 
bad  to  worse,  and  in  every  i)articular  carrj'  out  the  role  of 
venomous  animals  who  poison  innumerable  women  with 
disease,  insidiously,  under  the  guise  of  love,  not  giving 
warning  of  danger  as  the  serpents  do.  The  man  who  lies 
to  his  physician  is  a  fool  indeed,  and  the  more  so  if  he 
really  expects  to  hoodwink  men  whose  life-work  it  is  to 
study  human  nature  and  its  frailties. 

Chronic  G^o)?or/7icea.— Chronic  gonorrhoea  is  often  spoken 
of  as  synonymous  with  "  gleet" ;  but  the  former  term  is  more 
correct — the  latter  being  a  mere  symptom. 

There  are  many  influences  which  cause  an  acute  case  of 
claj:)  to  become  chronic;  this  mishap,  unfortunately,  very 
frequently  occurring,  in  which  event  the  patient  is  not  only 
liable  to  a  protracted  siege  of  suffering,  annoyance  and  ex- 
pense, but  also  for  a  i)eriod  of  months  or  j-ears  menaces 
any  woman  with  whom  he  may  cohabit,  as  well  as  all  who 
follow  him  in  his  impure  intercourse. 

Of  course  every  case  of  chronic  gonorrhoea  develops  from 
a  pre-existing  acute  attack ;  and  when  the  declining  stage, 
which  is  characterized  by  a  clear  mucous  discharge,  re- 
mains refractory  to  treatment,  the  inflammation  becomes 
localized  or  limited  to  one  patch  of  the  urethra,  usually  in 
that  part  which  is  the  most  vascular,  and  where  there  are 
the  greatest  number  of  glands,  such  as  the  bulbous,  mem- 
branous and  prostatic  portions  of  the  urethra. 


GONORRHCEA.  337 

Causes  or  Factors  wliich  Convert  an  Acute  Attack  into 
Clironic  Gonorrhoea. — 1.  There  is  a  natural  tendency  for 
gonorrhoea  to  remain  indefinite!}^  latent  or  dormant,  be- 
cause the  gonococci  bury  themselves  deeply  in  the  tissues, 
where  they  can  with  difficulty  be  reached  by  medicinal  ap- 
plications. 

2.  Too  active  or  too  mild  treatment  on  the  part  of  the 
physician,  along  with  infractions  of  hygienic  and  dietetic 
rules  on  the  part  of  the  j^atient,  such  as :  (a)  the  patient, 
considering  himself  cured  as  soon  as  the  discharge  is 
checked,  thinks  that  he  will  economize  by  stopping  treat- 
ment, though  there  yet  remain  i:)us  cells,  clap-threads  and 
gonococci  in  the  urine ;  (h)  he  is  intemperate  in  his  eating 
and  drinking;  (c)  he  does  not  refrain  from  active  exercise 
— if  a  wage-earner,  he  must  work;  {d)  he  gratifies  his 
ardent  sexual  desires  by  fornication  or  masturbation.  The 
ordinary  clap  patient  concentrates  his  mind  and  attention 
on  sexual  matters,  and,  if  he  cannot  fornicate,  will  com- 
promise by  associating  with  lewd  and  loose  women  whom  he 
can  at  least  hug  and  kiss,  thereby  promoting  congestion  of 
the  alread}'  inflamed  tissues  by  sexual  excitement;  (e) 
some  have  jieculiar  idiosyncrasies  or  diatheses  which  favor 
the  development  of  the  chronic  form,  e.g.,  syx)hilis,  or  the 
gouty  or  rheumatic  diathesis,  or  any  debilitating  disease. 

3.  Relapses  or  rai:)idly  recurring  fresh  infections  of 
gonorrhoea  favor  the  acquirement  of  the  chronic  type. 
After  a  period  of  treatment  of  six  or  eight  weeks'  duration, 
during  which  the  patient  has  been  continent,  he  thinks  that 
he  must  now  reward  himself  by  a  spree,  either  of  drinking 
or  of  venery ;  then  comes  on  a  relapse  which  is  treated  and 
disappears.  Similar  conduct  brings  on  relapse  after  re- 
lapse, each  one  of  less  intensity  and  suffering,  but  con- 
tinually conducing  to  the  firm  implantation  of  the  gono- 
cocci in  the  tissues,  with  a  resulting  serious  and  jjermanent 
damage  to  important  structures. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  there  are  manv  influences  which  favor 
22 


338  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

an  attack  of  gonorrlioea  becoming  clironic,  and  no  patient 
can  for  a  moment  assure  himself  that  he  will  escape  this 
misfortune. 

Can  gonorrhoea  last  for  a  long  time?     Indeed  it  can. 

"  In  very  many  cases  of  posterior  urethritis,  there  being 
no  visible  discharge,  and  the  patients  complaining  of  no 
symptoms  referable  to  the  deep  urethra,  the  affection  re- 
mains dormant,  latent  and  unrecognized.  Thus  the  cases 
may  drag  on  for  one  or  more,  and  even  five,  ten,  and 
twenty  years  without  giving  any  indication  of  lurking 
trouble.  In  some  of  these  cases  an  exacerbation  occurs, 
and  then  the  patient  realizes  that  he  has  had  an  uncured 
gonorrhoea." ' 

Can  a  i^atient  have  repeated  attacks  of  gonorrhoea? 

1.  One  attack,  after  its  complete  cure,  furnishes  abso- 
lutely no  immunity. 

2.  An  acute  attack  may  be  contracted  while  yet  suffer- 
ing from  chronic  gonorrhoea. 

3.  A  fresh  attack  requires  two  or  three  daj'S  for  its  incu- 
bation or  development,  while  a  mere  relapse  of  an  old  case 
shows  its  symjotoms  at  once.  The  cause  of  chronic  gonor- 
rhoea is  of  course  the  gonococcus.  These  gonococci  may 
remain  latent  for  almost  indefinite  periods  of  time  in  cer- 
tain parts  of  the  genital  area,  and  become  enfeebled  in 
power,  but  not  inert;  and  men  who  suffer  from  chronic 
gonorrhoea  infect  their  wives  with  a  chronic,  and  some- 
times with  an  acute  gonorrhoea,  perhaps  months  or  years 
after  they  have  suj^posed  themselves  cured. 

Symptoms  of  Chronic  Gonoy^hoea. — Many  a  man  is  suffer- 
ing with  chronic  gonorrhoea  without  being  aware  of  it,  since 
there  is  not  always,  by  an 3^  means,  an  external  discharge 
from  the  meatus. 

A\Tien  there  is  chronic  gonorrhoea  in  the  anterior  urethra 
there  is  apt  to  be  a  thin,  watery  discharge,  which  later  on 
becomes  thick,  tenacious,  and  yellowish,  gluing  together 
'  Taylor,  "'  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  168. 


GONORRHCEA.  339 

the  lips  of  the  meatus,  and  constantly  staining  the  linen. 
To  this  form  the  term  "gleet"  is  approjjriate.  Dietetic  or 
sexual  intemperance  renders  the  patient  liable  to  an  acute 
recrudescence  of  the  morbid  process,  so  that  he  often 
thinks  that  he  has  contracted  a  fresh  case  of  gonorrhoea. 

This  gleety  discharge  trickles  away  from  what  is  termed 
the  "pendulous  urethra,"  i.e.,  that  j^art  of  the  urethra 
situated  in  the  portion  of  the  penis  which  naturally  hangs 
downward  when  not  in  a  state  of  erection.  Sometimes 
the  discharge  is  profuse  and  sometimes  there  is  merely  a 
drop  or  two  of  a  yellowish  or  grayish-white  secretion  seen 
only  in  the  morning.  This  is  often  lightly  spoken  of  by 
roues  as  the  "good-morning  drop." 

This  gleety  discharge  is  the  most  frequent  symptom  of 
chronic  gonorrhoea,  not,  as  a  rule,  causing  much  pain, 
though  productive  of  a  varying  degree  of  mental  distress 
and  melancholy  dependent  on  the  sensitiveness  of  the  pa- 
tient. Often  this  symptom  persists  for  years  and  nothing 
seems  to  be  able  to  check  it. 

"  Cases  of  gleet  are  occasionally  seen  that  defy  all  meas- 
ures cf  treatment.  Although  trite,  the  exj^ression  of  Eicord 
with  regard  to  the  obstinacy  of  gleet  is  decidedly  pat.  This 
famous  specialist  once  said  that  he  dreamed  he  was  dead 
and  had  been  sent  to  purgatory.  Upon  being  asked  what 
sort  of  a  place  it  was,  he  replied  that  it  would  have  been 
pleasant  enough  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  fact  that  whole 
troops  of  male  spectres  stalked  about  him,  each  pointing 
its  ghastly  finger  at  him  and  exclaiming :  '  Eicord !  Ei- 
cord !  you  could  not  cure  my  gleet.'  "  ' 

This  gleet  is  kept  up  by  a  x^atch  of  inflammation  in  the 
urethra,  and  so  long  as  it  remains  localized  on  the  surface 
of  the  mucous  membrane  it  will  continue  until  it  heals  by 
the  formation  of  scar-tissue.  If  this  inflammatory  process 
spread  more  deeply  into  the  structures  beneath  the  mucous 
membrane,  and  into  the  substance  of  the  body  of  the  penis, 

'G.  Frank  Lydston,  M.D.,  " Gonorrhoea  and  its  Treatment,"  p.  79. 


340  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

as  it  frequently  does,  then  the  condition  is  much  more  seri- 
ous, because  scar-tissue  forms  at  that  area  and  retracts,  so 
as  to  form  a  dense,  gristly  constriction,  or  sfriciure,  which 
encroaches  on  and  narrows  the  urinar}'^  passage  to  a  dan-' 
gerous  degree. 

If  the  chronic  gonorrhoea  be  localized  in  the  posterior 
urethra,  the  conditions  present  a  much  more  serious  prog- 
nosis. This  portion  of  the  urethra  not  being  pendulous, 
the  discharge  will  of  course  gravitate  downward  into  the 
bladder. 

In  some  cases  there  is  a  frequent  desire  to  urinate,  with 
uneasiness  or  severe  pain  either  at  the  beginning  or  end  of 
the  act;  in  others  there  is  a  stabbing  pain  or  a  throbbing 
in  the  perinteum  or  testicles  or  in  the  rectum.  These 
symptoms  may  not  be  continuously  present,  but  may  vary 
from  da}'  to  day. 

If  the  inflammation  has  extended  to  the  prostate  gland, 
which  is  an  extremely  sensitive  and  complex  organ  in  close 
relationship  to  the  sexual  apparatus,  there  are  bound  to  be 
irritative  sensations  on  urinating,  defecating,  or  on  perform- 
ing the  sexual  act,  and,  in  addition,  irritation  of  the  whole 
nervous  system. 

Often  there  is  bladder-tenesmus,  or  a  straining  effort  to 
pass  urine  without  success,  or  sometimes  there  is  simi^ly  a 
desire  to  urinate  very  frequently,  only  a  few  drops  passing 
at  a  time. 

In  other  cases  there  is  derangement  in  the  sexual  sphere; 
pollutions  are  common,  with  a  corresponding  loss  of  sexual 
appetite  and  i)ower.  During  copulation  erection  may  oc- 
cur, but  there  is  a  premature  emission  without  pleasurable 
sensation,  and  even  with  severe  lancinating  pains  in  the 
testicles,  groins,  back  or  thighs. 

Sometimes  on  account  of  a  thickish,  opaque  mucous  fluid 
which  escapes  involuntarily,  the  patient  imagines  that  he 
has  spermatorrhoea;  but  this  is  merely  a  prostatorrhoea, 
or  catarrhal  discharge  from  the  prostate  gland. 


GONORRHCEA.  341 

However,  in  not  a  few  cases  there  is  a  true  spermator- 
rlioea,  and  spermatozoids  can  be  found  in  the  urine ;  and  in 
other  instances  there  is  a  free  discharge  of  semen  during 
each  act  of  defecation  and  urination.  Conditions  like  these 
would,  of  course,  rapidly'  bring  about  impotence  and  steril- 
ity with  attendant  melancholia  and  apathy. 

Sometimes  there  is  inflammation  and  irritability  of  the 
caput  galUnaginis — a  longitudinal  fold  of  mucous  mem- 
brane and  other  subjacent  tissues,  exceedingly  rich  in 
nerves,  situated  on  the  floor  of  the  posterior  urethra  and 
intimatel}^  associated  with  the  voluj)tuous  sensations  of  the 
sexual  act.  There  is  then  apt  to  be  a  condition  of  sexual 
neurasthenia,  or  increased  excitability  and  irritability  of 
the  nervous  system  in  regard  to  sexual  and  sensual  matters. 

Since  the  nerve  centre  which  presides  over  the  sexual 
functions  is  situated  in  the  spinal  cord,  these  various  dis- 
orders often  produce  spinal  affections,  such  as  partial  or 
complete  paralysis  of  certain  groups  of  muscles,  or  hyper- 
sesthesia  and  extreme  excitability  of  the  muscles. 

"  The  general  condition  always  remains  good,  the  appear- 
ance and  nutrition  may  be  excellent.  Nevertheless  the 
patients  are  usually  in  a  dejilorable  state.  The  impotence 
and  pollutions  depress  the  mind,  the  various  sensations 
rouse  the  belief  in  some  serious  disease  which  is  concealed 
by  the  physician,  the  mood  is  gloomy-  and  hyijochondriacal. 
This  is  especially  true  when  the  nervous  disturbances 
spread  farther,  and  other  spinal  symptoms  are  added. 
These  include  the  various  manifestations  of  spinal  irrita- 
tion, pressure  and  pain  in  the  back,  formication,  cold  or 
heat  along  the  spine,  radiating  neuralgias  and  paralgias, 
particularly  in  the  lumbo-sacral  i)lexus.  The  neurasthenic 
symptoms  may  also  spread  farther.  Digestion  then  suffers, 
symptoms  of  gastric  and  intestinal  catarrh  set  in,  but  are 
only  the  result  of  atony.  These  reduce  the  patient,  and 
his  condition  is  thus  aggravated  materially.  The  nervous 
symptoms  become  more  severe.     There  is  general  depres- 


342  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

sion,  pressure  in  the  head,  meutal  obtuseness,  palpitation 
of  the  heart,  etc.  The  unstable  vasomotor  system  causes 
rapidly  changing  color,  i3allor  and  redness,  especially  in 
the  face.  Digestion  is  poor,  the  local  sj'mptoms  in  the 
domain  of  the  uropoietic  and  sexual  organs  attain  consider- 
able intensity — no  wonder  that  not  a  few  of  these  patients 
terminate  their  existence  b}'  suicide."  ' 

The  Degree  of  Infectiousness  of  Chronic  Gonoi^hoea. — For 
the  ex-gonorrhoeal  patient  who  is  contemplating  marriage, 
and  for  the  married  man  who  has  broken  the  pledge  of 
lidelit}-  and  constancy  implied  in  his  solemn  marriage  vow, 
and  has  become  infected,  it  is  exceedingly  imi^ortant  that 
they  shall  distinctly  understand  that  they  are,  in  all  seri- 
ousness, venomous  and  poisonous  and  deadh"  to  whatever 
woman  they  approach  in  the  sexual  relation,  until  pro- 
nounced safe  by  a  skilled  specialist,  and  that  many  of 
them  never  can  be  cured.  Death  does  not  follow  in  their 
path  at  once,  but  countless  numbers  of  innocent  women 
pay  for  their  husbands'  dirty  and  illegitimate  practices 
with  their  shipwrecked  health  and  life.  Unlike  the  cobra's 
and  the  rattlesnake's  bite,  the  immediate  results  of  infection 
are  not  usually  seen  to  be  dangerous  to  life ;  but  gonorrhoea 
is  characterized  by  an  indefinitely  long  period  of  conval- 
escence, so  that  wives  and  children  will  suffer  terrible  con- 
sequences, even  years  afterward,  unless  the  patient  be  no 
longer  a  gonococcus-bearing  animal. 

Only  the  physician  who  is  skilled  in  the  modern  methods 
of  microscopical  research  can  decide  when  the  patient  is  no 
longer  a  menace  to  society,  and  the  opinion  of  no  other  is  of 
the  least  value.  As  mentioned  heretofore,  the  discharge 
of  chronic  gonorrhoea  may  appear  at  the  meatus  in  the  form 
of  a  mere  drop  of  pus,  hardly  noticeable,  or  it  may  come 
from  the  posterior  urethra  and  not  show  at  all,  externally, 
on  account  of  the  backward  gravitation  of  the  discharge 

'Finger,  "Gonorrhoea  and  its  Complications,"  English  trans.,  p. 
148. 


GONORRHCEA.  343 

toward  the  bladder.  In  this  latter  and  by  far  more  usual 
event  the  recognition  of  the  disease  can  be  made  onl}-  by 
microscopical  demonstration  of  jjus-corpuscles  and  clap- 
shreds  in  the  urine — a  trained  eye  of  course  being  neces- 
sary to  distinguish  them  from  other  objects  in  the  field  of 
vision.  Without  exception  the  gonococci  can  always  be 
found  in  a  case  of  acute  gonorrhoea,  but  by  no  means 
always  in  chronic  gonorrhoea.  The  finding  of  gonococci  in 
chronic  gonorrhoea  of  course  makes  the  diagnosis  sure, 
but  the  failure  to  find  them  on  the  first  examination  does 
not  at  all  exclude  the  possibility  of  their  presence. 

Pus  corpuscles  and  clap-shreds  may  be  seen  day  after  day 
with  the  microscope  in  a  case  of  chronic  gonorrhoea,  and  no 
gonococci  appear  along  with  them;  then,  after  any  debauch 
or  excess  on  the  part  of  the  patient,  they  may  exuberate  and 
come  out  from  their  lurking-places  in  the  deep  recesses  and 
crypts  of  the  urethra  audits  accessory  canals,  and  reappear 
in  considerable  numbers. 

In  the  terminal  stages  of  a  case  of  chronic  gonorrhoea 
specialists  sometimes  make  use  of  the  following  plan,  in 
order  to  see  if  a  man  is  fit  to  marry  and  entirely  free  from 
the  poison  germs : 

To  make  certain  that  the  patient  is  innocuous,  after  pus 
corpuscles  and  clap-shreds  can  no  longer  be  found  by  the 
microscope  in  his  urine,  an  artificial  irritation  is  induced 
in  the  urinary  organs  in  order  to  temporarily  lower  the  re- 
sisting power  of  the  tissues,  so  that  if  there  are  anj^  gono- 
cocci dormant  or  lurking  in  the  folds  and  crypts  and 
canaliculi  of  the  genital  passages,  they  may  have  a  fair 
opportunity  to  make  their  appearance.  To  efi^ect  this  the 
patient  is  either  directed  to  go  out  and  take  a  large  and 
rather  indigestible  dinner  with  plenty  of  vvine  or  beer;  or 
a  relapse  is  purposely  induced  by  throwing  into  his  ure- 
thra a  "test  irritating  injection."  These  test  irritant 
methods  bring  about  a  f^imple  nrethritis,  with  suppuration, 
and  the  pus  is  then  examined  for  gonococci.     If  gonococci 


344  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

cannot  be  found  after  repeated  trials  of  this  artificial  metlioci 
of  inducing  a  relapse,  then  there  are  almost  certainly  none 
present,  and  the  patient  may  marry. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  gonococci  are  found,  he  must  in 
no  event  marry  until  they  cannot  be  made  to  reappear ;  nor 
for  a  considerable  period,  preferably  six  months,  thereafter. 

If  the  doctor  tell  the  patient  that  there  are  no  longer 
any  gonococci,  the  latter  will  consider  himself  cured;  but 
as  a  rule,  after  a  chronic  gonorrhoea,  there  is  not  a  "  cure" 
in  the  real  sense  of  the  word,  since'  the  urethral  tissues 
have  been  unfavorably  modified  by  the  smouldering  in- 
flammation, and  his  genital  apparatus  is  not  as  good  as  it 
once  was.  In  order  to  insure  him  against  a  narrowing  of 
the  calibre  of  the  urinary  tube — stricture— he  will  present 
himself  more  or  less  frequently,  for  a  period  of  several 
months,  for  the  passage  of  "sounds."  "Neisser  (1884) 
was  the  first  who  studied  the  subject  scientifically.  He 
proved  that  the  infectiousness  of  chronic  gonorrhoea  is  a 
conditional  one,  in  so  far  as  the  secretion  may  contain 
gonococci,  that  there  are  cases  in  which  the  secretion  con- 
tains the  cocci  only  at  times,  and  finally  others  which  are 
always  found  to  be  free  from  gonococci  despite  the  most 
careful  and  frequent  examinations.  Furthermore,  since  the 
secretion  is  small  in  amount,  and  after  being  washed  away 
by  the  urine  requires  a  considerable  time  for  its  regenera- 
tion, it  follows  that  a  single  act  of  coitus  with  an  individual 
suffering  from  chronic  gonorrhoe  t,  does  not  necessarily  pro- 
duce infection.  As  the  result  of  numerous  examinations  I 
concur  in  this  opinion,  and  permit  a  patient  who  is  sufi'ering 
from  chronic  gonorrhcea,  i.e.,  the  morning  drop  or  clap- 
threads,  to  have  marital  intercourse  only  after  I  have  con- 
vinced myself  by  a  two  to  four  weeks'  daily  examination 
of  the  secretion  or  clap-shreds  that  these  contain  only  epi- 
thelium and  no  pus  cells,  and  when,  after  irrigation  of  the 
urethra  with  a  solution  of  silver  nitrate  or  corrosive  subli- 
mate and  consequent  sui)puration,  the  secretion  is  entirely 


GONORRHOEA.  345 

free  from  gonococci,  and  there  is  no  further  indication  for 
the  continuance  of  treatment."  "  Before  a  man  can  indulge 
in  marital  intercourse,  Finger  requires  three  conditions — 
"the  absence  of  gonococci,  pus  corpuscles,  and  peri-ure- 
thral  complications." 

"  One  condition  I  must  especially  emphasize,  viz. ,  the 
absence  of  pus  corpuscles.  The  presence  of  shreds  of  pus 
corpuscles  in  the  secretion  is  always  an  indication  that  the 
inflammation  is  not  extingiiished.  It  is  possible  that  the 
inflammation  still  continues  despite  the  disappearance  of 
the  gonococcus,  its  original  etiological  factor,  but  this  will 
probably  not  be  true  of  many  cases.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  question  of  the  presence  of  gonococci  is  often  answered 
with  difficulty.  Positive  findings  put  the  matter  beyond 
question,  but  negative  findings  do  not  prove  that  gonococci 
are  not  present.  After  long  and  laborious  examinations 
with  negative  results  the  gonococci  may  suddenly  reap- 
pear, so  that  I  most  urgently  caution  against  answering  the 
question  with  regard  to  marital  intercourse  from  the  results 
of  bacteriological  examination.  This  should  be  refused  so 
long  as  pus  corpuscles  are  present. "  ^ 

The  statements  of  this  great  specialist  are  supported  by 
every  surgeon  who  has  to  deal  with  the  special  diseases 
of  either  men  or  women,  and  it  is  a  fact,  lamented  by  the 
whole  x)rofession,  that  an  immense  amount  of  sufi^ering 
among  innocent  married  women  is  due  to  the  old-standing 
uncured  gonorrhceas  of  their  once  profligate  husbands. 

Tlie  Treatment  of  Chronic  Gonorrlioea. — Many  patients 
become  so  neurasthenic  and  hysterical  over  their  condition 
that  they  exaggerate  their  symptoms  and  run  from  one 
doctor  to  another,  selecting  him  who  wall  gratify  their 
anxiety  by  adopting  the  most  active  line  of  treatment. 
Many  such  cases,  which  are  submitted  to  over-treatment 
b}^  energetic  and  unwarrantable  methods,  sufi'er  great 
damage  by  the  perpetuation  of  an  intractable  gleet.  Treat- 
'  Finger;  loc.  cit.,  p.  154.  *  Finger;  iMd.,  d   l^r,. 


346  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

ment  will,  of  course,  promise  better  results  in  recent  caset* 
than  in  old,  neglected,  or  over-treated  ones,  and  there  Avill 
be  a  better  outlook  if  the  chronic  gonorrhoea  is  not  compli- 
cated with  stricture  or  neurasthenic  symj^toms,  such  as 
pollutions,  prostatorrhcea,  and  intense  excitability  in  the 
sexual  domain.  While  the  prognosis  may  be  favorable  in 
simple,  uncomplicated  cases,  we  must  always  bear  in  mind 
that  the  sequelse  and  involvements  and  extension  of  the 
disease  to  other  organs  not  infrequently  cause  serious  and 
permanent  damage,  and  even  death. 

So  intractable  are  these  chronic  gonorrhoeas  that  the 
physician  cannot  predict  with  any  assurance  the  length  of 
time  which  may  be  required  for  their  treatment,  nor,  in 
fact,  whether  any  marked  relief  can  ever  be  looked  for ;  nor 
can  he,  in  some  of  the  cases,  ever  countenance  the  marriage 
of  any  woman  to  such  an  unfortunate  mau. 

There  is  one  i^oint,  surprising  as  it  may  be,  which  must 
be  given  the  greatest  consideration — and  this  is,  that  a 
stricture,  cr  retraction  and  drawing  together  of  the  tissues 
which  were  once  the  seat  of  the  localized  inflammation, 
may  develop  many  years  after  the  patient  has  considered 
himself  entirely"  cured. 

Out  of  164  cases  of  stricture.  Sir  Henry  Thompson  gives 
the  period  of  development  as  follows :  * 

10  cases  occurred  during  the  acute  gonorrhoea. 

71     "       developed  in    1  year. 

41     "  «         "      3to    4  years. 

22     «  «         cc      7  «     g      « 

20     "  «         «    20  "   25      " 

"When  a  man  is  yet  in  the  prime  of  his  life  his  tissues  re- 
sist morbid  influences  more  powerfully,  the  repair  and  the 
waste  of  all  the  structures  of  the  bod}'  keeping  an  approxi- 
mately parallel  course ;  but  when  he  begins  to  go  down- 
hill, and  has  turned  his  face  toward  the  evening  of  life,  the 
'  Vide  Finger  ;  loc.  cit.,  p.  144. 


GONORRHCEA.  347 

balance  between  repair  and  waste  is  disordered  in  favor  of 
the  latter,  and  those  parts  of  bis  body  which  are  least  re- 
sistive are  the  first  to  suflfer  from  unfavorable  influences. 
The  noondaj'  of  life  is  reached  earlj  or  late,  according  to 
the  previous  habits  of  the  individual  and  his  ancestral 
legacy ;  but  after  this  meridian  has  passed  the  weak  spots 
begin  to  appear.  Thus,  strictures  may  develop,  according 
to  Thompson's  statistics,  even  as  long  as  twenty-five  years 
after  the  sui^posed  termination  of  the  gonorrhoeal  attack — 
scar-tissue  forming  at  the  site  of  the  ancient  gonorrhoeal 
inflammation.  This  is  what  we  mean  hj  saying  that  a 
cure — a  restitutio  ad  mtegrum — cannot  he  promised,  even  in 
any  case,  however  mild.  In  a  work  of  this  nature  it  would 
not  be  wise  to  attemi:)t  even  an  outline  of  the  various 
methods  of  treatment  which  different  cases  require. 

Tlie  Complications  of  Gonorrhoea.- — Gonorrhoea  is  exceed- 
ingly liable  to  be  followed  by  one  or  more  of  various  com- 
plications. The  male  may  escaj^e  with  no  jjerceptible 
remote  results;  but  if  the  female  become  infected,  it  is 
regarded  as  a  natural  consequence  and  to  be  expected  as  a 
foregone  conclusion  that  the  i^rocess  will  spread  through- 
out the  whole  extent  of  her  sexual  aiDparatus  and  render 
her  a  miserable  and  incurable  invalid.  No  disease  has  a 
more  gloomy  outlook  for  the  female  than  gonorrhoea,  while 
for  the  male  there  may  be  the  assurance  that  in  a  majority 
of  cases  he  has  been  more  or  less  permanently  injured  and 
rendered,  not  infrequently,  a  poisonous  and  dangerous  man 
for  a  husband. 

Certain  of  the  complications  are  peculiar  to  each  sex, 
owing  to  the  anatomical  distinctions,  while  others  are 
common  to  both  sexes.  The  following  are  the  principal 
comijlications  of  gonorrhoea : 

In  the  3Iale. 

1.  Stricture  of  the  urethra.     (See  !Fig.  XI.,  page  305). 

2.  Gonorrhoeal  invasion  of  the  epididymis  and  testicle. 


348  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

3.  Inflammation  of  the  seminal  vesicles. 

4.  Inflammation  of  tlie  i:)rostate  gland. 

5.  Inflammation  of  Cowper's  glands. 

6.  Peri-uretliral  abscess. 

7.  Inflammation  of  the  glans  penis  and  prepuce. 

In  the  Female, 

1.  Urethritis. 

2.  Vaginitis, 

3.  Invasion  of  Bartholin's  glands. 

4.  Invasion  of  uterus,  Fallojiian  tubes,  ovaries,  and  peri- 
toneum. 

5.  Residual  or  latent  symptoms  of  gonorrhoea. 

6.  Sterility. 

In  Both  Sexes. 

1.  Inflammation  of  kidneys  and  bladder. 

2.  Buboes. 

3.  Peritonitis. 

4.  Gonorrhoeal  rheumatism. 

5.  Afi'ections  of  the  heart  and  pj^aemia. 

6.  Gonorrhoeal  conjunctivitis  and  ophthalmia. 

7.  Gonorrhoeal  affections  of  the  skin. 

8.  Gonorrhoea  in  the  infant. 

Long  monographs  have  been  written  about  each  of  these 
topics,  and  even  books  upon  the  subject  of  stricture. 
Within  the  short  space  at  our  command  we  will  briefly 
consider  these,  paying  especial  attention  to  stricture  of 
the  urethra,  since  that  is  the  most  important  complication 
in  the  male,  and  to  epididymitis,  which  the  most  frequent. 

Stricture  of  the  Urethra.  —  (Latin,  stringere,  to  draw  tight, 
to  bind,  to  contract.)  Stricture  is  a  morbid  condition  of 
the  \irethr?.;  of  serious  significance,  in  which  the  normal 
function  of  that  canal  is  interfered  with,  (a),  either  by 
spasmodic  muscular  contractions  of  the  urethral  walls ;  or, 
(b),  by  a  definite  anatomical  change  in  their  structure, 
whereby  its  calibre  is  reduced  in  certain  parts  of  its  course 


GONORRHCEA.  349 

and  its  dilatabilit}-  impaired,  (1)  either  by  reason  of  an  in- 
creased outgrowth  and  thickening  of  the  mucous  membrane, 
or  (2)  on  account  of  the  formation  of  a  more  or  less  dense 
connective-tissue,  or  scar-like  tissue,  which  draws  together 
and  contracts  the  lumen,  or  passageway,  of  the  canal,  with 
constantly  increasing  tendency  to  diminish  it  more  and  more 
with  the  lapse  of  years. 

Obviously  the  constantly  accumulating  urine,  a  waste- 
product  of  the  body,  must  have  some  channel  for  escape, 
and,  if  the  urethra  become  impervious,  fstulce,  or  false 
passages  form,  and  the  urine  finds  its  exit  through  one  or 
more  openings  in  the  penis,  scrotum,  or  surface  of  the 
belly;  or  else  the  bladder  bursts  and  the  j^atient  rapidly 
dies  from  shock. 

It  may  be  years  after  the  patient  has  considered  himself 
cured  of  the  gonorrhoea  before  the  obstruction  to  the  flow 
of  urine  becomes  so  marked  as  to  arrest  his  attention; 
for  gonorrhoea  does  not  promptly  cause  stricture — these 
lesions,  as  a  rule,  requiring  years  for  their  development. 

An  expert  rifle-shot  takes  great  pains  to  keep  the  inside 
of  his  rifle-barrel  untarnished  and  in  i)erfect  order;  if  it 
become  in  the  least  degree  rusted,  it  is  never  the  same, 
while  if  it  have  become  badly  corroded,  even  in  one  spot,  it 
is  useless  for  marksmanship  until  re-bored  to  a  new  cali- 
bre. So,  also,  a  stricture  converts  the  urethra  into  a 
"pathological  tube"  and  unfits  it  for  its  proper  function. 
Just  as  the  rifle-barrel  must  be  re-bored,  in  very  nearly  the 
same  manner  the  surgeon  must  almost  literally  re-bore  and 
cut  and  stretch  the  scarred  urethra. 

True  gonorrhoeal  stricture  is  found  only  in  the  anterior 
urethra,  i.e.,  from  a  point  in  the  urethra  slightly  posterior 
to  the  peno-scrotal  angle  forward  to  the  meatus.  There 
is,  however,  an  inflammatory  condition  caused  by  the  strict- 
ure in  the  anterior  portion,  which  secondarily  afi'ects  the 
posterior  urethra  and  neck  of  the  bladder.  A  stricture  is 
said  to  exist  when  the  calibre  of  the  urethra  is  diminished 


350  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

from  its  normal  size,  iu  wbicli  event  it  becomes  necessary  for 
the  surgeon  to  restore  its  patency  if  the  patient  is  to  be  in 
health.  The  duration  of  the  treatment  required  lasts,  gener- 
ally speaking,  for  a  period  of  months,  with  a  supervision 
extending  over  j'ears  or  a  lifetime;  and  it  is  left  for  the 
reader  to  imagine,  if  he  can,  the  amount  of  time  and  money 
expended,  the  inconvenience,  and  the  suffering — physical 
and  mental.  There  is  sometimes  a  spasmodic  stricture, 
which  results  from  an  inflamed  and  hypersensitive  condi- 
tion of  the  urethral  mucous  membrane.  This  may  be 
caused  by  the  use  of  an  improper  saddle,  whether  on  a 
bicycle  or  horse,  by  alcohol  or  sexual  excesses,  b}^  colds, 
irritating  condition  of  the  urine,  piles,  fissure  of  the  anus, 
constipation,  etc.  It  is  due  to  contractions  of  the  com- 
X)ressor  urethr?e  muscle  and  of  the  muscular  fibres  of  the 
urethra  itself;  and  Avhen  catheter  or  sound  is  passed  down 
a  canal  so  affected  there  is  a  sensation  of  the  instrument 
being  firmly  grasped  by  the  muscles,  or  the  urethra  may 
close  so  firmlj'^  as  to  refuse  to  admit  an  instrument.  These 
spasmodic  strictures  are  sometimes  troublesome  in  prevent- 
ing urination,  but  we  do  not  look  upon  them  as  serious,  since 
they  usuidly  pass  away  without  serious  results. 

Gouorrhwcd  Strictures. — There  are  three  forms  of  stricture 
associated  with  gonorrhoea : ' 

1,  the  soft  stricture ;  2,  the  semi-fibrous  stricture ;  and,  3, 
the  densely  fibrous,  or  inodular  stricture,  where  the  ure- 
thra is  surrounded  by  an  irregular  and  firm  mass  of  dense, 
gristly,  scar-like  tissue.  The  last  and  most  serious  variety 
results,  in  gradations,  from  the  second  and  first  forms. 
The  soft  stricture  is  the  first  to  develop,  usually  in  the  bul- 
bous portion  of  the  urethra,  and  the  disease  may  usually 
be  arrested  at  this  stage. 

If  the  case  be  neglected,  however,  fibrous  tissue  forms 
at  the  site  of  the  soft  stricture  and  constitutes  the  semi- 
fibrous  stricture.  Here  the  process  may  again  stop;  but 
'  Compare  Taylor,   "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  326  et  seq. 


GONORRHCEA.  351 

if  tlie  case  is  treated  not  at  all,  or  improperly,  then  a  new 
and  firmer  growth  of  fibrous  tissue  takes  place,  entirely 
obliterating  the  normal  structures,  so  as  to  form  a  non-elas- 
tic, gristly  and  densely  fibrous,  or  iuodular  stricture.  Thus 
we  see  that  the  semi-fibrous  stricture  develops /ro»i  the  in- 
cipient soft  stricture  vdo  the  densely  fibrous  variety,  and 
that  these  three  forms  are  merely  different  stages  which 
represent  the  increasing  severity  of  the  lesion. 

It  will  be  well  to  remember  that  in  every  case  of  gonor- 
rhoea which  becomes  chronic  there  is,  on  account  of  the 
continued  inflammation,  a  growth  of  new  cell  elements, 
which  infiltrates  the  tissues  lying  immediately  beneath  the 
urethral  mucous  membrane,  and  that,  unless  this  condition 
receives  skilful  treatment  early  in  its  inception,  it  will  re- 
sult in  a  serious,  permanent  injury  to  the  urethra,  reducing 
its  calibre  and  impairing  its  dilatability. 

The  soft  stricture,  or  earliest  and  least  severe  of  the 
varieties,  may  remain  soft  for  months  or  years,  always 
having  a  tendency,  however,  to  become  firm  and  fibrous 
and  to  contract,  which  it  certainly  will  do  upon  the  slight- 
est provoci^tion,  e.g.,  from  inordinate  sexual  indulgence,  a 
reinfection  of  gonorrhoea,  severe  exercise,  or,  in  short,  from 
any  cause  which  may  inflame  the  damaged  urethra. 

In  the  less  severe  forms  of  stricture  only  the  mucous 
membrane  and  the  tissues  lying  immediately  beneath  it 
are  affected,  while  in  the  severer  and  later  varieties  the 
scar-like  tissue  forms  even  in  the  structures  which  form  the 
body  of  the  penis,  or  coriras  spongiosum — so  that  one  can 
feel,  by  external  manipulation,  the  hard,  cord-like  masses 
in  which  the  urethra  seems  to  be  embedded.  This  condi- 
tion is  most  common  at  the  peno-scrotal  angle,  just  where 
the  scrotum  joins  the  under  surface  of  the  penis. 

Even  a  mild  case  of  gonorrhoea  may  result  disastrously ; 
for  the  inflammatory  processes  very  frequently  last  long 
after  the  attack  is  supposed  to  be  over,  and  are  followed  by 
an  extensive  outgrowth  of  exuberant  and  unhealthy  tissue. 


352  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

Many  and  many  a  man  who  lias  had  gouorrlioea  and 
tliinks  himself  cured  will  suffer  from  stricture  when  he  gets 
older;  the  one  precaution  which  it  is  in  his  power  to  take 
is,  to  see  that  he  does  not  get  a  reinfection  of  this  terrible 
disease.  "  In  many  cases  the  process  remains  limited  for 
years,  but  eyen  when  it  has  thus  remained  dormant  it  may 
later  on  become  actiye  and  inyohe  more  tissue.  This  is 
the  underlying  cause  of  the  extensiye  and  deeply  inyading 
strictures  which  are  not  uncommonly  found  in  old  men."  ' 

Owing  to  the  extremely  slow  processes  which  take  place 
in  stricture  formation  they  are  not  common  before  twenty- 
fiye  years  of  age,  while  the  greatest  number  of  cases  occur 
between  twenty-fiye  and  forty  years,  and  the  next  heayiest 
figures  fall  between  forty  and  fifty  years  of  age."  "It  is 
significant  of  the  usual  slowly  deyeloi)ing  character  of  stric- 
ture that  the  greatest  number  of  patients  felt  the  necessitj'^ 
of  relief  between  the  twenty -fifth  and  fiftieth  years." 

Strictures  yary  much  in  the  extent  and  depth  to  which 
they  extend,  and  in  their  softness  or  density,  their  tendency, 
howeyer,  being  to  grow  denser  and  denser,  and  to  narrow 
the  urinary  passage  more  and  more. 

The  layman  yery  naturally  might  feel  surprise  that  scar- 
tissue  should  be  so  prone  to  grow  and  to  show  activity,  be- 
cause he  notices  that  scars  on  the  surface  of  his  body  remain 
unchanged  for  a  lifetime.  But,  b}'  way  of  exiilanation,  it 
must  be  pointed  out  that  the  urethra  is  not  only  an  ex- 
tremely delicate  tube  surrounded  by  highly  vascular  tis- 
sues, but  that  it  also  must  be  in  continual  use  just  like  the 
bile  ducts,  or  even  the  heart;  in  other  words  the  scar,  being 
in  vital  tissues,  itself  keeps  vital  and  takes  on  renewed  activ- 
ity with  every  loss  of  resisting  power  on  the  part  of  the  sur- 
rounding tissues.  If  scar-like  tissue,  similar  to  a  stricture, 
form  in  the  passages  which  convex*  the  semen  from  the 
testicles,  then  it  does  often  comi)letely  seal  up  these  tubes 
and  render  the  individual   sterile,  because  these  seminal 

>  Taylor,  loc.  cit. ,  p.  327.      « Compare  Taylor,  ibid. ,  pp.  329,  330. 


GONORRHCEA.  353 

passageways  are  not  in  any  wax  essential  to  life,  nor  are 
they  by  any  means  so  vascnlar  as  tlie  urethra.  A  stricture 
which  is  at  first  limited  to  one  comparatively  small  patch 
of  the  urethra  has  a  tendency  to  spread  and  to  travel  along 
the  tissues,  so  that  eventually  there  may  be  several  different 
places  which  are  the  seats  of  the  morbid  process.  Some- 
times there  is  merely  a  narrow  band  or  ring  of  stricture- 
tissue  surrounding  the  urethra,  and  sometimes  the  fibrous 
tissue  extends  along  the  tube  for  four  or  five  inches ;  and, 
again,  there  may  be  stricture  of  the  urethra  in  two,  or 
three,  or  more  places,  between  which  there  is  a  portion  of 
healthy  tube.  Almost  all  strictures  of  long-standing  dura- 
tion are  annular,  i.e.,  they  have  grown  until  they  complete- 
ly surround  the  uretliral  canal. 

The  stricture  tissue — scar-like  tissue — does  not  affect  the 
urethra  alone,  but  extends  deeply  into  the  substance  of  the 
penis ;  what  we  find  in  the  urethra  being  only  a  surface 
indication  of  the  deeply  seated  malady.  These  strictures 
present  many  varieties  in  shape  and  extent;  sometimes 
they  are  mere  thread-like  thickenings  in  the  mucous  mem- 
brane; sometimes  there  is  a  crescentic  or  valve-like  flap 
which  juts  out  into  the  urethra;  sometimes  there  is  a 
complete  diaphragm  extending  across  the  canal  with  an 
opening  in  the  centre;  and  sometimes  the  fibrous  tis- 
sue has  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  the  urine  has  to  pass 
through  an  extremely  tortuous,  crooked  and  contracted 
canal. 

Stricture  formation  may  be  (piite  rapid  and  develop 
within  six  months  from  the  initial  attack  of  gonorrhoea, 
but,  generally  speaking,  the  process  is  long  drawn  out. 

It  would  be  assuming  a  great  deal  on  the  part  of  auj 
physician  to  x^romise  any  man  who  has  ever  had  a  chronic 
gonorrhoea,  however  mild,  that  he  will  never  have  a  stric- 
ture. The  patient  is  usually  advised  to  present  himself, 
perhaps  not  more  than  two  or  three  times  a  year,  but  for 
manv  vears,  for  observation,  in  order  that  sounds  may  be 
23 


354  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

passed  for  the  purpose  of  detecting  a  possible  stricture  in 
its  very  beginning,  when  the  most  good  can  be  done. 

The  Symptoms  of  Striciiire. — To  an  observant  patient 
the  first  symptom  to  i:)resent  itself  is  usually  a  gleety  dis- 
charge of  mucus,  or  of  mucus  mixed  with  pus,  which 
comes  from  the  meatus  in  the  morning,  or  at  intervals 
throughout  the  day.  He  will  probably  very  soon  notice 
that  the  stream  of  urine  has  become  narrower  than  it 
should  be,  and  divided  into  two  or  three  jets,  or  perhaps 
given  a  peculiar  screw-shaped  twist.  If  the  stricture  is 
well  advanced  there  will  probably  be  a  constant  dribbling 
awaj'  of  urine,  so  that  the  unfortunate  man  must  wear 
cloths  to  receive  it.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  dense 
and  inelastic  stricture-tissue  does  not  permit  the  urethra  to 
firmly  close,  and  the  urine  escapes  in  drops  through  the 
more  or  less  rigid  tube. 

Long  after  a  gonorrhoea  has  been  supposed  to  be  cured 
the  patient  maj',  on  account  of  an  unrecognized  stricture, 
complain  of  uneasiness  or  actual  pain  in  the  penis  and  peri- 
nseum,  and  especially  at  the  end  of  the  penis. 

Sometimes  the  patient  notices  that  he  is  required  to 
make  greater  straining  efi'orts  in  order  to  expel  his  urine ; 
but  this  symptom  eventually  passes  away  in  a  few  weeks, 
since  the  bladder-walls  become  thickened  and  hypertro- 
phied  in  order  to  overcome  the  increased  resistance  which 
the  stricture  offers  to  the  flov/  of  urine. 

An  unobservant  fjerson  might  not  notice  these  symptoms 
unless  they  were  very  well-marked. 

As  the  disease  becomes  more  advanced  the  bladder  be- 
comes so  irritable,  as  a  rule,  that  the  suiferer  must  rise 
very  frequently  during  the  night  in  order  to  urinate,  the 
act  being  accompanied  with  pain.  Sometimes  he  must 
strain  for  a  long  time  before  he  can  start  the  flow  of  urine, 
and  when  it  does  come  it  may  suddenlj^  stop  before  he  has 
emptied  the  bladder. 

In  many  cases  of  stricture  the  first  thing  to  attract  atten- 


GONORRHCEA.  355 

tion  to  the  trouble  is  tlie  alarming  symi)tom  of  "  retention 
of  urine ,"  or  the  inability  to  void  urine,  which  may  have 
been  brought  about  by  exposure  to  cold,  a  drinking-bout, 
indiscretions  in  diet,  or  by  any  cause  which  inflames  the 
bladder  and  urethra.  The  stricture  may  have  been  present 
for  months,  but  in  these  cases  does  not,  perhaps,  manifest 
itself  until  irritation  is  produced  from  some  cause  or  other. 
There  is  hardly  any  symptom  which  is  so  likely  to  terrify 
the  patient  as  this — for  he  knows  that  every  moment  will 
make  his  condition  worse  instead  of  better,  and  that  his 
very  life  depends  upon  his  emptying  his  bladder.  Some 
men  who  have  stricture  suffer  with  retention  of  urine 
almost  every  time  they  go  on  a  spree,  while  others  never 
have  it.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  retention  is  more  fre- 
quent when  the  stricture  is  situated  far  back  in  the  urethra 
behind  the  peno-scrotal  angle,  and  very  infrequent  when 
the  trouble  is  in  the   anterior  part  of  the  canal. 

Some  patients,  on  the  other  hand,  suffer  from  "  inconti- 
nence of  urine  "  or  the  inability  to  retain  their  urine.  This 
is  especialh'  frequent  in  cases  of  very  tight  stricture  where 
the  canal  is  much  reduced  in  calibre.  In  this  condition 
the  bladder  is  never  completely  emptied — the  patient 
being  relieved  of  the  imperative  desire  to  urinate  by  the 
passage  of  only  a  part  of  the  secretion.  Incontinence  of 
urine  is  due  to  a  paralysis  of  the  external  sphincter  vesicce 
and  compressor  urethrm  muscles,  the  function  of  which  is 
to  keep  the  neck  of  the  bladder  and  the  urethra  firmly 
closed  until  the  individual  voluntarily  decides  to  urinate. 

When  this  miserable  condition  of  incontinence  exists — 
the  bladder  never  being  completely  emptied,  the  retained 
urine  becomes  foul  and  ammoniacal  and  sets  up  severe  in- 
flammation in  the  bladder,  which  ultimatel}^  extends  to  the 
kidneys.  The  overflow  of  urine  continually  dribliles  away, 
keeping  the  genital  organs  and  thighs  constantly  wet,  so 
that  the  x>atient  has  a  markedly  urinous  odor  about  him. 

In  some  of  these  cases  the  urine  accumulates  to  such  a 


356  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

degree  that  it  gives  rise  to  distention  of  the  bladder.  As 
this  distention  increases  the  walls  of  the  bladder  become 
paral^'zed  and  lose  their  power  of  contracting,  so  that  after 
a  time  the  amount  of  urine  becomes  so  great  that  it  over- 
flows, and  finds  its  way  out  involuntarily.  This  condition 
Gross  called  the  "incontinence  of  7^etention,"  a.nd  in  such 
cases  the  bladder  may  become  so  greatly  distended  as  to 
reach  as  high  as  the  navel. 

Important  changes  also  take  i)lace  behind  the  stricture. 
Owing  to  the  mechanical  impediment  to  the  flow  of  urine, 
that  part  of  the  urethra  behind  the  stricture  dilates;  so 
that  sometimes  a  j^ouch  is  formed.  The  increased  hydro- 
static pressure  and  the  irritating  properties  of  the  foul 
urine  cause  ulcerations  in  the  i^osterior  urethra,  and  even- 
tually a  few  drops  of  urine  percolate  into  the  tissues  through 
the  spots  where  the  mucous  membrane  has  been  eroded. 
This  starts  an  abscess  in  that  region,  and  the  urine  will 
now  burrow  under  the  skin  and  ultimately  force  its  way 
out  by  fistulous  openings  either  in  the  perineum  or  on  the 
surface  of  the  scrotum,  or  thighs,  or  as  high  up  on  the 
belly  as  the  navel. 

Exiravasation  of  urine,  or  a  diffusion  of  urine  into  the 
surrounding  tissues,  occurs  when  the  urethra  ruptures  at 
the  site  of  the  inflamed  and  devitalized  area.  It  is  an  ex- 
ceedinglj'  grave  complication  of  stricture  and  always  re- 
quires prompt  surgical  aid.  It  is  rendered  especially 
grave  from  the  fact  that  the  urine  of  patients  who  are  suf- 
fering with  tight  strictures  is  usually  foul  and  decomposed, 
and  urine  in  such  a  condition  rapidly  sets  up  blood  poison- 
ing and  extensive  necrosis,  or  gangrene,  of  all  tissues  outside 
of  the  urinary  passages,  with  which  it  comes  in  contact. 
The  rupture  of  the  urethra  may  occur  when  the  patient  is 
straining  to  urinate,  or  from  an  uncontrollable  spasmodic 
eft'ort  on  the  part  of  the  abdominal  muscles  and  bladder. 
At  first  the  patient  may  exjjerience  no  pain,  but  even  a 
feeling  of  relief  from  the  desire  to  urinate,  though  he  is 


GONORRHCEA.  357 

surprised  that  relief  lias  come  without  the  passing  of  any 
arine.  The  condition  is  somewhat  analogous  to  what  oc- 
curs when  a  garden-hose  breaks  at  some  part  of  its  course, 
the  water  leaking  out  at  the  break,  but  none,  or  little,  com- 
ing from  the  nozzle.  The  urine  which  leaks  out  at  the  site 
of  the  break  diffuses  itself  through  the  tissues  and  burrows 
through  them  in  various  directions,  causing  them  to  swell 
wherever  it  goes.  The  swelling  is  limited  to  the  subcuta- 
neous tissues  of  the  i)enis,  scrotum,  perinseum,  and  walls 
of  the  abdomen.  This  extravasated  and  putrid  urine  con- 
tinxies  to  tunnel  passages  for  itself  in  various  directions 
and  by  its  decomposition  sets  up  symjjtoms  which  are 
indicative  of  blood-poisoning,  such  as  nausea,  vomiting, 
loss  of  a,]}i>etiie,  high  fever,  chills,  urpemic  coma,  delirium, 
and  death  if  surgical  aid  be  not  i:)romptly  given.  Some- 
times the  effect  of  this  putrid  urine  is  to  cause  extensive 
sloughing  of  the  skin  surfaces,  so  that  the  testicles  may 
be  left  bare  and  denuded  of  their  scrotal  covering. 

After  the  rupture  the  patient  will  be  unable  to  urinate, 
and  a  surgeon  is  quickly  called  in. 

Abscess  of  the  prostate  sometimes  develops  as  a  result  of 
stricture.  If  the  inflammation  of  the  prostate  gland,  which 
surrounds  the  prostatic  portion  of  the  urethra,  go  on  to 
end  in  pus-formation,  the  patient  will  suffer  with  a  throb- 
bing pain  at  the  neck  of  the  bladder,  and  an  impediment  to 
the  free  i)assage  of  urine  will  occur  on  account  of  a  i)ressure 
on  the  urethra  by  the  enlarged  prostate,  which  may  com- 
pletely close  it.  In  such  cases  the  muscular  force  de- 
manded of  the  bladder,  in  order  to  expel  its  contents,  is  so 
great  that  the  bladder  walls  become  enormously  hj- pertro- 
phied  and  more  powerful,  the  thickening  in  some  cases 
being  five  or  six  times  as  great  as  normal.  As  a  conse- 
quence of  this  hypertrophy  of  the  bladder  walls,  the 
mucous  membrane  ^^'hich  lines  the  bladder  gets  thrown 
into  numerous  deep  folds,  and  on  account  of  the  powerful 
straining  efforts  to  evacuate  the  urine,  large  pouches  or 


358  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

sacs  form,  whicli  may  even  become  larger  tlian  the  bladder 
itself. 

In  these  pouches  the  urine  stagnates  and  putrefies,  and 
their  walls  tend  to  become  thinner  and  thinner  from  over- 
distentiou,  while  calculi,  or  stones,  very  frequently  form 
in  them  by  a  morbid  deposition  of  the  earthy  matter  and 
salts  of  the  urine.  Sometimes  the  pouches  become  so  at- 
tenuated that  they  burst  and  allow  the  j^utrid  urine  to  es- 
cape into  the  abdominal  cavity,  in  which  event  death 
speedily  occurs  from  shock  or  peritonitis. 

Changes  in  the  Urine  in  Stricture. — In  severe  and  neglected 
cases  of  stricture  some  of  the  urine  is  retained  in  the  blad- 
der and  decomposes,  with  the  result  that  the  kidneys  be- 
come involved,  and  herein  lies  the  chief  danger;  not  in 
the  impediment  to  urination /)ey  se,  but  in  the  retention  of 
a  portion  of  the  decomposed  and  sex)tic  urine. 

Such  urine — putrid,  fetid,  and  highly  poisonous — may 
so  alter  the  structure  of  the  kidneys  by  the  inflammation 
excited  in  them  that  they  cannot  eliminate  the  urine  from 
the  system. 

The  i)atient's  condition  is  then  trulj'  pitiable.  He  is 
gravely  ill  and  suffers  with  urinary  fever,  severe  pains  in 
the  back  and  loins,  and  dropsy.  He  usually  makes  the 
effort  to  pass  urine  every  few  minutes,  i)erhaps  succeeding 
in  voiding  at  each  trial  only  a  few  drops  of  offensive  and 
putrid  urine  which  scalds  the  urethra.  The  suffering  is 
intense,  and  such  severe  cases  usually  end  fatally. 

The  Causes  of  Stricture. — The  chief  cause  is  hng-coii- 
iinued  infammationfolJoioing  gonorrhoea,  which  leads  to  the 
growth  of  cicatricial,  or  fibrous,  tissue  in  and  about  the 
walls  of  the  urethra.  A  stricture  is  more  apt  to  follow  a 
gonorrhoea  which  has  lasted  for  a  long  time,  no  matter 
how  mild  the  attack  was ;  the  shar^jness  of  the  attack  hav- 
ing less  to  do  with  the  recovery  than  the  length  of  the  pe- 
riod of  convalescence. 

"We  have   already  discussed   spasmodic  strictures,  but 


GONORRHCEA.  359 

there  yet  remain  two  or  three  rarer  varieties.  Syphilitic 
sores  at  the  meatus  are  sometimes  followed  by  stricture, 
and  excessive  masturbation  is  said  to  cause  it  in  some  in- 
stances by  exciting  an  active  congestion  and  inflammation 
of  the  urethral  mucous  membrane.  In  a  few  other  cases 
strictures  may  be  caused  by  the  use  of  caustic  or  irritant 
.  injections  used  in  the  attempt  to  abort  gonorrhoea. 

The  chances  of  stricture  increase  very  much  with  each 
fresh  attack  of  gonorrhoea,  and  the  patient  who  presents 
himself  to  a  doctor  with  this  lesion  will  usually  give  a 
history  of  having  had  more  than  one  infection,  or  else  a 
recrudescence,  or  fresh  outbreak,  of  the  single  original 
infection. 

The  important  point  to  remember  is  that  even  the  mildest 
case  of  clap  is  liable  to  be  followed  by  a  stricture  unless  it 
be  thoroughly  and  promptly  treated,  and  that  the  length  of 
its  persistence  and  convalescence  has  more  to  do  with  the 
formation  of  stricture  than  the  sharpness  of  the  acute  stage. 

A  few  points  more — mostly  recapitulated ^are  to  be 
considered  regarding  stricture.  Especially  bear  in  mind 
that  strictures  develop  very  slowl}',  constantly  tending  to 
become  firmer  and  denser  with  the  lapse  of  time,  and  often 
failing  to  produce  symptoms  until  many  years  after  the 
patient  has  considered  himself  thoroughly  cured. 

On  account  of  their  slow  advancement  through  the  pro- 
gressive changes  it  is  unusual  to  find  the  inodular,  or 
densest  form,  in  patients  under  thirty  years  of  age  unless 
they  contracted  gonorrhoea  when  mere  children.  A  stric- 
ture which  is  soft  and  of  comparatively  large  calibre  before 
thirty  years  of  age  will  jorobably,  if  untreated,  become  a 
tight  inodular  stricture  after  the  patient  has  passed  the 
fortieth  year  of  life.  These  ages  are,  of  course,  only  ap- 
proximately correct,  and  are  merely  the  average  figures. 
If  a  man  have  had  relapses,  or  several  fresh  infections,  the 
outlook  is  so  much  the  more  grave,  and  almost  invariably 
there  is  a  permanent  injury  to  his  procreative  organs. 


360  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

A  gonorrlioeal  patient  may  have  c^-stitis,  or  inflamma- 
tion of  the  bladder,  for  several  years  during  the  late 
twenties  and  early  thirties  without  suffering  much  impair- 
ment of  his  general  health,  but  after  he  approaches  forty 
and  thereafter,  the  stricture  having  become  denser  and 
more  contracted,  the  urine  decomi^oses,  on  account  of  the 
incomplete  evacuation  of  the  bladder,  and  the  septic  pro- 
cess travels  up  the  ureters  to  the  kidneys,  setting  up  a 
severe  and  dangerous  nejihritis,  or  kidney  inflammation,  or 
a  pyelitis,  with  accumulations  of  pus  in  those  glands. 

These  conditions  make  a  wreck  of  his  health  and  place 
him  upon  the  verge  of  a  precipice  over  which  he  may  fall 
at  the  slightest  infraction  of  the  laws  of  hygiene,  or  upon 
the  receipt  of  any  injury  or  accident;  and  they  assuredly 
knock  oft'  many  years  from  his  allotted  expectation  of  life. 
The  prognosis  is  of  course  more  unfavorable  if  the  patient 
is  blameworthy  in  his  habits,  or  unfortunate  in  his  tem- 
perament and  heredity. 

Epididymitis    axd    Orchitis,    or    Inflammation    of   the 
Epididymis  and  Testicle. 

Inflammation  of  the  testicle  itself — orchitis — is  not  so 
verj'  frequent,  while  inflammation  of  the  epididymis,  the 
convoluted  canal  which  is  accessory  to  the  testicle,  is  the 
most  common  of  all  the  complications  of  gonorrhoea. 

"  Swelled  testicle"  is  the  popular  term  which  is  applied 
to  both  these  affections  indiscriminately,  though  it  is  not 
strictly  proper,  since  the  testicle  itself  is  less  often  involved 
than  the  exjididymis,  which  lies  in  close  relationship  to  it 
within  the  scrotum. 

In  order  to  understand  the  subject  clear h',  a  short  ana- 
tomical descrii:)tion  of  the  seminiferous  glands  and  ducts 
must  here  be  studied.  These  semen-producing  and  semen- 
eonvejdng  structures  are  of  capital  importance  in  procrea- 
tion, and  if  they  are  obliterated  the  essentials  of  virility 


GONORRHOEA.  361 

are  withered  and  the  man    in    thenceforth    practically  a 
neuter. 

TJie  scrotum  is  a  pendulous  double  bag  which  contains 
the  testicles  and  epididymes  and  a  portion  of  the  spermatic 
cords.  It  consists  mainly  of  a  brownish  integument,  or 
skin,  which  is  very  thin  and  provided  ^Yith.  scattered  hairs 
and  sebaceous  follicles,  and  of  darfos—an  exceedingly  vas- 
cular connective-tissue  layer,  containing  unstriped  muscu- 
lar fibres,  and  lying  immediately  beneath  the  skin. 

In  the  median  line,  extending  from  the  anus  forward, 
along  the  under  side  of  the  scrotum  and  penis,  is  seen  a 
dark  seam,  or  jxiphe,  which,  especially  when  the  scrotum 
is  contracted  under  the  influence  of  cold,  rises  up  as  a 
prominent  ridge.  From  the  scrotal  part  of  this  rapJie  the 
dartos  sends  in  a  partition  of  fibrous  tissue,  the  septum, 
sa^oii,  to  the  under  surface  of  the  penis,  thus  dividing  the 
scrotum  into  two  lateral  compartments.  Under  certain  in- 
fluences, e.g.,  cold,  the  unstriped,  or  involuntary  muscular 
fibres  of  the  dartos  cause  the  scrotum  to  contract,  so  that 
it  is  closely  applied  to  the  testicles,  while  under  other  in- 
fluences, e.g.,  warmth,  they  relax,  so  that  the  scrotum  is 
flabby  and  pendulous. 

Lining  the  inside  of  each  compartment  of  the  scrotum  is 
a  thin  serous  membrane,  the  tunica  vaginalis,  which  also 
forms  an  investment  for  the  testicles. 

The  testicles  are  two  oval  glands,  lying  obliquely  in  the 
scrotum,  whose  function  it  is  to  secrete  the  essential  male 
reproductive  elements,  or  spermatozoa,  and  some  of  the 
fluid  elements  of  the  semen. 

Lying  upon  the  outer  border  of  the  testicles,  close  to 
their  convex  surfaces,  are  the  two  crescent-shaped  epididtj- 
mides,  each  epididymis  being  described  anatomically  as  hav- 
ing a  head  (globus  major),  a  body  {corpus),  and  tail  (globus 
minor) . 

In  order  to  study  these  structures  more  carefully  it  is 
necessary  to  make  a  section  through  them  with  a  sharp 


362  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

knife,  when  their  anatomical  organization  can  be  seen  in 
detail. 

Upon  cutting  open  a  testicle  it  is  seen  to  be  of  a  drab 
color,  and,  if  it  be  dissected  out  in  a  basin  of  water,  one 
can  unravel  a  great  number  of  thread-like  filaments,  each 
of  which  has  an  average  length  of  two  and  a  half  feet ; 
these  filaments  are  the  seminiferous  or  semen-bearing  tubes, 
each  testicle  being  computed  to  contain  upward  of  eight 
hundred  of  them. 

Each  testicle  is  subdivided  by  numerous  septa,  or  parti- 
tions, into  upward  of  two  hundred  and  fift}^  to  four  hun- 
dred compartments,  each  division  containing  one  or  more 
of  the  convoluted  seminiferous  tubules.  The  seminiferous 
tubules,  approximately  eight  hundred  in  number,  unite 
before  leaving  the  testicle  into  about  twenty  ducts  of  larger 
size,  the  vasa  i^ecta,  to  form  the  straight  tubules  which 
carry  the  testicular  secretions  to  the  epididymis.  They 
emerge  from  the  testicle  at  its  upijer  part,  piercing  the 
tunica  vaginalis  which  covers  it,  and  unite  together  to  form 
the  head,  globus  -major,  of  the  epididymis.  The  head  of 
the  epididymis  is  thus  seen  to  be  firmly  connected  with  the 
ui)per  part  of  the  testicle  by  these  efferent  ducts.  In  the 
head  of  the  epididymis  the  tubules  are  still  numerous  and 
much  convoluted,  or  twisted  and  curved  ui:)on  themselves, 
but  at  the  upper  part  of  its  body  they  unite  to  form  a  sin- 
gle tube  of  larger  calibre,  approximately  twenty  feet  in 
length,  which  by  its  convolutions  forms  the  body  and  gIo~ 
hiis  minor.  The  single  tube,  no  longer  convoluted,. then 
continues  under  a  new  name,  the  vas  deferens.  The  vas 
deferens  {vide  Fig.  XII.)  is  a  tube,  eighteen  to  twenty -four 
inches  in  length,  which  begins  at  the  lower  part  of  the  glo- 
bus minor  and  passes  upward  along  the  inner  side  of  the 
testicle,  forming  a  part  of  the  spermatic  cord;  it  then  enters 
the  abdominal  cavity  at  the  internal  abdominal  ring,  arches 
over  the  bladder  and  descends  to  its  base,  where  it  becomes 
sacculated,  and  finally  unites  at  the  base  of  the  'prostate 


GONORRHCEA.  3G3 

gland  witli  the  duct  of  tlie  vesicula  seminalis  to  form  the 
cjaculatory  duct,  wliicli  opens  on  the  floor  of  the  posterior 
urethra. 

The  vesicidce  semmales  are  two  membranous  pouches, 
situated  on  the  base  of  the  bladder,  which  serve  as  reser- 
voirs for  storing  the  semen — each  vesicle  of  a  calibre 
about  that  of  a  goose-quill,  and  from  four  to  six  inches  in 
length,  though  from  their  convoluted  character  they  ap- 
I^ear  shorter. 

Each  seminal  vesicle  terminates  in  a  duct  which  unites 
with  the  vas  deferens  on  either  side  to  form  a  duct  of 
larger  size,  which  then  receives  the  name  of  the  ejaculatory 
duct.  The  ejaculatory  ducts,  one  on  either  side,  are  each 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  pierce  the 
prostate  gland  to  oj^en  by  two  valve-like  slits  into  the  pos- 
terior part  of  the  urethra  at  the  sides  of  vera  moutaiumi. 

With  this  short  consideration  of  the  anatomical  features, 
of  the  seminiferous  glands  and  ducts  we  are  now  in  a  bet- 
ter position  to  j^roceed  to  the  comijlications  of  epididymitis 
and  orchitis. 

The  essential  elements  of  the  semen  are  formed  in  the 
testicles  and  conveyed  thence  by  a  system  of  intricately 
coiled  tubes  of  small  calibre  to  the  posterior  i^art  of  the 
urethra,  so  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  understand  the  manner 
in  which  the  gonorrhoeal  process  travels  backward  from 
the  urethra  in  the  reverse  direction. 

Gonorrhoeal  inflammation,  due  to  the  invasion  of  gono- 
cocci,  seems  to  have  a  special  predilection  for  the  tubules 
in  the  head  of  the  epididymis;  then,  next  in  frequency, 
it  invades  the  testicle  itself;  and  next  the  larger  sac-like 
dilatations  of  the  vesiculce  semiuales.  The  gonococci  un- 
doubtedly pass  down  these  tubes  by  contiguity,  infecting 
as  they  travel  along;  but  the  effects  are  most  usuall}^  to 
be  seen  only  in  the  epididymis,  though  if  the  base  of  the 
bladder  were  more  accessible  it  would  probably  be  found 
that  the  seminal  vesicles  were  first  affected.     The  in  flam- 


364  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

mation  wliich  is  set  iip  by  tlie  proliferation  of  the  gono- 
cocci  in  the  mucous  membranes  of  the  seminal  passages 
has  a  tendency  here  also  to  jiass  into  a  chronic  stage  and 
to  produce  an  abundant  growth  of  scar-like  tissue,  which 
will,  almost  without  fail,  leave  permanent  deleterious  re- 
sults wherever  it  is  localized. 

Inflammation  of  the  epididymis  or  testicle,  or  of  both,  is 
more  frequent  among  that  class  of  i)atients  who  from  ne- 
cessity or  policy  cannot  rest  from  their  ordinary  occupa- 
tions, or  among  those  who  have  received  too  active  and 
harsh  treatment  in  the  acute  stage  of  gonorrhoea,  or  who 
persist  in  venery  and  alcoholic  excesses.  According  to 
Bergh  and  Tournier,  it  would  seem  to  occur  once  in  every 
eighth  or  ninth  case  of  gonorrhoea  in  jirivate  practice,  while 
Finger '  believes  that  it  occurs  in  29.9  per  cent  of  hospital 
cases,  and  Ljdston "  says  that  it  should  not  occur  ofteuer 
than  once  in  twenty  cases,  provided  that  the  patient  has 
skilful  treatment  and  maintains  sexual  hygiene  and  rest. 
Both  sides  are  affected  with  equal  frequency,  though  it  is 
rare  to  find  the  right  and  left  ei)ididymes  involved  at  the 
same  time. 

Time  of  Oiiset. — Being  a  complication  of  posterior  ure- 
thritis, which  does  not  develoj)  at  once  after  infection,  the 
inflammation  of  the  epididymis  and  testicle  does  not,  as  a 
rule,  develop  until  from  two  to  five  weeks  after  the  acute 
gonorrhoea.  If  instruments  are  passed  in  the  acute  stage, 
some  of  the  gonorrhoeal  pus  is  liable  to  be  carried  down 
mechanicallj'  to  the  i)osterior  urethra  and  an  epididymitis 
may  then  develop  within  a  few  days.  Occasionall}'  these 
symptoms  are  not  seen  until  the  lapse  of  one,  two,  or  three 
years  after  the  beginning  of  the  disease. 

Symptoms. — The  most  constant  symptom  is  a  severe  and 
sudden  pain  which  attacks  one  testicle,  the  agony  being 
so  great  and  the  sensations  so  depressing  that  the  patient's 

^Loc.  cit.,  p.  236. 

'"Gonorrhoea  and  its  Treatment,"  p.  100. 


GONORRHCEA.  365 

morale  is  upset,  aud  lie  does  not  fail  to  realize  tLat  a  serious 
complication  lias  befallen  Lim. 

There  is  usually  a  general  systemic  reaction,  with  fever, 
cliills,  constipation,  furred  tongue,  hot  skin,  and  a  rapid 
pulse,  with  frequency  of  urination  and,  occasionally, 
bloody  pollutions.  With  the  onset  of  an  epididymitis  the 
urethral  discharge  usually  ceases. 

Some  i^atients  continue  about  their  usual  duties  for  a  day 
or  so  before  they  are  forced  to  give  up ;  but,  as  a  rule,  suf- 
ferers with  epididymitis  or  orchitis  voluntarily  assume  the 
recumbent  position  within  twenty-four  hours.  The  physi- 
cian will  probably  find  the  patient  lying  on  his  bach,  -oith 
the  leg  on  the  affected  side  drawn  up,  and  with  the  scrotum 
supported  either  by  the  patient's  hand  or  by  a  soft  cushion. 

Pressure  on  the  scrotum  causes  agonizing  pain,  and  even 
when  the  sufferer  lies  perfectly  still  the  torture  is  severe 
and  nauseating. 

In  some  cases  the  inflammation  also  affects  the  vas 
deferens. 

Not  infrequently^  the  inflammation  also  attacks  the  thin 
serous  envelope  which  lines  the  interior  of  the  scrotum 
the  tunica  vaginalis— ainsmg  it  to  pour  out  a  serous  effu- 
sion which  may  so  distend  the  affected  compartment  that 
the  testicle  can  no  longer  be  felt.  This  effusion  is  called 
an  acute  hydrocele,  and  the  hydrocele  fluid,  unless  drawn  off 
by  the  surgical  operation  of  "tapping,"  will  remain  indefi- 
nitely before  it  is  absorbed. 

The  changes  just  described  usually  come  on  rapidly  and 
attain  their  greatest  intensity  within  from  two  to  five  days, 
though  efiicient  treatment  does  much  to  modify  the  sever- 
ity of  the  symptoms. 

Within  a  few  days  the  inflammatory  symptoms  subside, 
as  a  rule,  and  the  patient  resumes  his  ordinary  mode  of 
life ;  but  residua,  or  left-over  effects,  are  practically  sure  to 
persist. 

Sometimes  there  is  a  fatal  peritonitis  as  a  consequence 


366  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

of  gonorrlioeal  invasion  of  tlie  seminiferous  tubes,  tliougli 
usually  the  inflammation  is  localized  to  only  a  portion  of 
the  abdominal  viscera. 

Termination  and  Results. — A  complete  cure  is  rare.  After 
a  time  the  effused  fluid  is  absorbed,  all  perceptible  swell- 
ing disappears,  and  the  patient,  suffering  little  or  no  pain 
or  inconvenience,  regards  himself  as  well.  But  some  in- 
duration, or  hardening,  remains  in  the  globus  major  of  the 
ei^ididymis,  and  the  skilled  phj^sician  can  usually  feel  a 
knot  of  about  the  size  of  a  pea  even  for  months  or  years 
after  all  symptoms  have  subsided.  If  there  has  been  a 
severe  gonorrhoeal  inflammation  in  the  vas  deferens,  one 
can  usually,  for  an  indefinite  time  thereafter,  trace  that 
structure  as  a  firm,  dense  cord  running  upward  to  the  ex- 
ternal abdominal  ring.  As  might  be  expected,  the  inflam- 
mation is  exceedingly  liable  to  permanently  seal  up  the 
minute  calibre  of  the  seminiferous  tubes  wdth  a  dense  scar- 
tissue,  throwing  the  affected  side  completel}'  out  of  service ; 
Avhile  if  both  sides  are  obstructed,  there  is  of  course  com- 
plete sterility.  The  individual  may  thereafter  fulh'  enjo}^ 
copulation  and  have  a  discharge  W'hich  he  thinks  is  tnie 
semen;  but  in  reality  he  is  sterile,  the  ejaculation  being 
absolutely  wanting  in  spermatozoa. 

With  every  rex)eated  infection  of  gonorrhoea  there  is  al- 
most sure  to  be  an  exacerbation  of  the  epididymitis,  with 
increased  risk  of  sterility.  Sometimes  the  testicle  breaks 
down  into  j)us,  suppurates,  and  becomes  an  abscess,  which 
discharges  its  necrosed  elements  through  an  external  vent. 
The  scrotum  of  the  side  so  affected  maj^  also  be  destroyed, 
leaving  an  unsightly  deformit3\  If  a  man  is  so  unfortii- 
nate  as  to  have  a  syphilitic  taint,  that  disease  will  proba- 
bly attack  the  testicle,  if  inflamed  with  gonorrhoeal  virus, 
with  terrible  intensity. 

Chronic  hydrocele  frequently  persists  after  epididymitis 
or  orchitis,  causing  mucn  inconvenience  and  pain  and  ster- 
ility. 


GONORRHCEA.  367 

Neuralgia  also  frequently  persists  for  a  long  time  after 
such  an  attack.  This  testicular  neuralgia  is  often  agoniz- 
ing in  its  intensity,  causing  insomnia,  loss  of  appetite, 
dyspepsia,  nervous  excitability,  hypochondriasis,  emacia- 
tion, and  profound  depression  of  spirits.  A  man  natu- 
rally prizes  the  integrity  of  his  testicles  to  the  last  degree, 
and  any  serious  damage  to  them  is  well  calculated  to  reduce 
him  to  despair. 

We  see,  then,  that  partial  or  complete  sterility  is  liable 
to  result  from  connective-tissue  thickenings  in  the  course  of 
these  seminiferous  tubes ;  the  scar-like  tissue  tending  to  con- 
stantly become  firmer  and  denser,  so  as  hoj^elessly  to  put 
out  of  service  one-half  or  the  whole  of  the  man's  reproduc- 
tive organs :  and,  unfortunately,  this  complication  is  by  no 
means  a  rare  event  among  gonorrhoeal  patients,  none  having 
an  assurance  of  escaping,  no  matter  how  mild  the  case. 

Ikflammation  op  the  Seiiinal  Vesicles. 

These  membranous  receptacles  for  the  semen,  it  will  be 
remembered,  lie  on  the  base  of  the  bladder,  bet^veen  it  and 
the  rectum,  and  their  excretory  ducts  unite  with  the  vasa 
deferentia  to  form  the  common  ejaculatory  ducts. 

We  saw  how  the  gonococci  spread  by  continuity  down 
the  whole  length  of  the  urethra  and  thence  along  the 
twenty-four  inches  of  the  vas  deferens  to  the  ej^ididymis 
and  testicle,  and,  as  might  be  exi)ected,  they  also  occasion- 
ally find  their  way  into  the  seminal  vesicles. 

Like  epididymitis,  seminal  vesiculitis  usually  occurs 
within  from  two  to  five  weeks  after  the  gonorrhoeal  infec- 
tion. It  is  in  almost  all  cases  a  complication  of  gonorrhoeal 
invasion  of  the  ijosterior  urethra ;  though  it  may  result,  in 
milder  form,  from  the  passage  of  a  bougie  down  the  ure- 
thra, from  injuries  received  by  riding  on  an  improjjer  sad- 
dle, or  from  any  cause  which  might  excite  inflammation  in 
the  genital  sphere. 

The  symptoms  resemble  those  of  posterior  urethritis 


868  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

and  inflammation  of  the  prostate.  In  seminal  vesiculitis 
there  are  almost  constant  erections,  the  penis  sometimes 
remaining  in  a  condition  of  priapism,  or  continual  painful 
turgescence.  There  are  frequent  and  involuntary  seminal 
emissions,  which,  instead  of  being  attended  with  any  pleas- 
urable sensation,  cause  a  violent  and  burning  pain  dur- 
ing ejaculation.  The  emission  is  sometimes  blood-stained 
and  partly  composed  of  pus. 

Such  a  patient  presents  a  pitiable  spectacle ;  liis  mind 
is  riveted  on  liis  sexual  apparatus  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  things ;  his  sexual  passion  is  enormously  increased, 
but  the  gratification  of  the  appetite,  either  by  coitus  or 
pollutions,  is  attended  with  severe  pain;  he  is  hot  and 
feverish ;  it  hurts  him  to  allow  his  bladder  to  become  filled 
and  it  hurts  him  to  emptj^  it;  his  sleep  is  much  disturbed; 
he  cannot  have  a  movement  of  the  bowels  without  severe 
pain,  and  he  suffers  with  dull,  throbbing  pains,  which  he 
refers  to  the  rectum,  bladder,  perineum,  or  spine.  No 
wonder  that  such  a  patient  becomes  much  depressed  in 
spirits,  hypochondriacal,  and  irritable. 

Numerous  cases  are  mentioned  in  medical  literature 
where  seminal  vesiculitis  has  been  followed  by  abscess  for- 
mation, with  subsequent  rupture  and  discharge  of  the  pus 
into  the  bladder,  i:)eritoneal  cavity,  or  rectum,  these  cases 
ending  sometimes  in  death,  but  usually  in  the  formation  of 
fistulous  tracts  which  are  verj'  difiicult  to  heal. 

As  in  all  gouorrhoeal  processes,  there  is  a  marked  ten- 
dency for  the  condition  to  become  chronic;  but  the  symp- 
toms are  so  vague  and  deep-seated  that  thej'  often  pass 
undiagnosed. 

If  the  seminiferous  tubes  have  become  occluded  the 
patient  will  be  imj)otent,  and  will  soon  lose  the  power  of 
erection  and  all  sexual  desire. 

These  miserable  individuals  wlio  have  lost  their  sexual 
power  will  put  forth  their  utmost  efforts  to  regain  it  and 
hail  with  delight  anything  which  will  give  them  an  erect 


GONORRHCEA.  369 

penis.  Some  of  them  have  a  dribbling  of  a  dirty  grajish 
or  brown  mucus  wliicb  stains  their  clothing,  and  sometimes 
they  have  emissions  of  gonococci-containing  semen  mixed 
\  ith  pus  and  bloody  mucus. 

Others,  on  the  contrary,  who  have  not  arrived  at  this 
stage,  have  enormoush^  increased  sexual  appetites.  "  Such 
is  the  erotic  condition  of  these  j)atients  that  the  sight  of  a 
prettj"  woman,  of  her  breast,  or  her  ankle,  throws  them 
into  a  high  state  of  nervousness  and  sexual  erethism.  I 
have  known  several  instances  in  which  one  woman  only 
exerted  this  morbid  influence  upon  the  man.  Accidental 
slight  contact,  the  glance  of  the  eye,  the  sound  of  the  voice, 
and  the  grasp  of  the  hand  served  to  so  excite  and  exalt 
them  sexually  that  an  orgasm,  with  or  without  partial 
erection,  would  result." ' 

This  is  the  kind  of  men  who  are  most  dangerous  to 
society.  Their  lust  has  been  artificialh'  magnified  to  so 
great  a  degree  and  the  gratification  of  it  has  so  promiuentl}^ 
been  the  one  idea  of  their  lives  that  they  are  liable  to  be- 
come seducers,  ravishers,  and  fathers  of  an  unhealthy  brood 
of  illegitimate  children.  Such  men  are  bewitched  with  the 
society  of  women,  continually  indulging  in  erotic  fancies 
concerning  them,  frequenting  dance-halls,  and  consorting 
with  many  a  pure  girl  who  entirely  fails  to  realize  their 
motives. 

The  Prognosis. — The  acute  form  usually  disappears  with- 
in a  fortnight  and  a  seeming  cure  may  sometimes  be  se- 
cured; but  the  outlook,  as  in  all  gonorrhoeal  processes, 
cannot  be  altogether  favorable.  Occasionally  there  is  a 
fatal  termination  from  rupture  of  the  suj^purating  sacs ;  but 
more  commonly  a  low  grade  of  chronic  inflammation  per- 
sists, which  is  liable  to  recrudesce  with  every  fresh  infection 
or  with  every  redevelopment  of  the  original  attack,  and 
with  each  succession  of  the  relapses  the  gravity  of  the  con- 
dition is  increased. 

'  Taylor  :  "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  223. 

24 


370  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 


Inflammation   of   the   Prostate    Gland   and   Pros- 

tatorrhcea. 

Inflammation  of  tlie  prostate  is  a  rather  common  com- 
plication of  gonorrhoea  which  not  infrequently  ends  fatally 
■ — sometimes  rapiclh',  but  more  often  remotely. 

The  prostate  gland  is  situated  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  urethra,  completely  surrounding  it  as  well  as  the  neck 
of  the  bladder.  Posteriorly  it  lies  in  close  contact  with 
the  walls  of  the  rectum.  In  size  and  shape  it  resembles 
a  horsechestnut,  having  the  base  directed  toward  the  blad- 
der and  the  blunt  apex  looking  forward.  It  is  partly  mus- 
cular and  partly  glandular  in  structure,  the  whole  organ 
being  invested  with  a  firm,  fibrous,  unj-ielding  capsule. 

It  consists  of  three  distinct  lobes,  the  two  larger  being 
placed  laterally  and  the  smaller  one  between  them  on  the 
under  surface.  Three  canals  run  through  it,  the  urethra 
perforating  it  above  and  the  two  ejaculatory  ducts  piercing 
it  obliquely  to  open  into  the  prostatic  portion  of  the  ure- 
thra. 

The  prostate,  though  containing  numerous  involuntary 
muscular  fibres,  is  chiefly  composed  of  glandular  tissue, 
which  pours  out  a  fluid  of  a  milkj^  color,  of  the  consistence 
of  a  rather  weak  solution  of  gum  arable.  This  prostaiic 
fluid,  which  is  conducted  to  the  urethra  by  from  twelve  to 
twenty  minute  excretory  ducts,  serves  to  lubricate  the  mu- 
cous membrane  of  the  urethra  and  also  is  a  natural  vehicle 
for  the  semen. 

The  organ  has  a  rich  supply'  of  blood-vessels,  lymphatics 
and  nerves,  the  latter,  derived  from  the  sympathetic  ner- 
vous system,  being  extremely  sensitive. 

Being  so  intimately  associated  with  the  posterior  ure- 
thra and  communicating  with  it  so  freely  hj  means  of  these 
numerous  ducts  and  passages,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  gonococci  readily  iuv.ade  it  and  x^roduce  untoward 


GONORRHOEA.  371 

results  wliicli  Lave  a  tendency  to  remain  chronic  indefi- 
nitely. 

Prostatitis  may  result  from  external  injuries,  from  ex- 
posure to  damp  and  cold,  or  from  immoderate  exercise  on 
an  improper  saddle;  but  it  is  usually  a  complication  of 
gonorrhoea  after  it  has  spread  to  the  posterior  urethra. 
Occasionally  it  rapidly  follows  an  acute  gonorrhoea  of  the 
anterior  urethra,  especially  if  the  abortive  method  has 
been  unwisely  tried,  or  if  a  catheter  has  been  passed  too 
early  and  has  carried  the  virus  down  the  urethra. 

Sometimes  the  results  are  hardly  apparent,  but  usually 
the  prostate  is  left  in  a  damaged  condition  and  rendered  a 
scarred,  shrivelled  mass  with  little  or  no  glandular  struc- 
ture. 

Symptoms.- — Being,  as  a  rule,  a  complication  of  poste- 
rior urethritis,  which  ordinarily  does  not  develop  until 
after  the  third  week  of  the  infection,  prostatitis  is  not  to 
be  expected  very  early  in  the  course  of  the  disease.  The 
symptoms  begin  with  a  dull  pain  and  a  sensation  of  weight 
in  the  perinaeum.  There  is  difficulty  in  urinating  and  a  de- 
sire frequently  to  emptj^  the  bladder.  A  sense  of  fulness 
is  felt  in  the  rectum  which  gives  rise  to  frequent  calls  to  go 
to  stool,  and  often  there  is  a  tenesmus  of  both  the  bladder 
and  rectum  which  compels  the  patient  to  make  the  attemj)t 
to  void  his  urine  and  faeces,  but  without  success.  Some- 
times urination  is  an  impossibility,  so  that  relief  must  be 
given  by  catheterization.  Owing  to  the  swollen  condition 
of  the  prostate  and  the  consequent  i)ressure  on  the  neck  of 
the  bladder  and  urethra,  there  is  great  danger  that  a  portion 
of  the  urine  will  be  retained  and  set  up  severe  bladder  and 
kidney  complications  by  its  decomposition.  If  inflamma- 
tion of  the  epididymis  and  seminal  vesicles  be  superadded, 
the  patient's  sufferings  will  be  much  aggravated. 

Sometimes  the  enlarged  jirostate  impinges  on  the  rectum 
so  as  almost  comi:>letely  to  block  up  that  passage  and  pre- 
vent defecation.     These  symptoms  may  be  further  aggra- 


372  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

vated  b}'  an  iucieased  sexual  excitability,  with  erections 
and  pollutions,  on  account  of  tlie  inflammation  of  tbe  veru 
montanum,  which  is  situated  in  the  prostatic  portion  of  the 
urethra,  and  is  the  chief  seat  of  sexual  desire.  Few  condi- 
tions of  disease  cause  so  much  su fleering  and  agony  as  a 
severe  inflammation  of  the  prostate— the  constant  desire  to 
urinate  and  defecate,  the  throbbing  pains  and  the  general 
constitutional  and  mental  disturbance  punishing  the  patient 
with  the  greatest  distress  and  anguish. 

Prognosis. — The  affection  is  always  exceedingly  painful 
and  the  dangers  grave.  The  process  maj^  abate  in  three  or 
four  weeks,  but  it  is  liable  to  pass  into  an  obstinate  and 
chronic  condition  which  keeps  up  a  persistent  sexual  neu- 
rasthenia and  irritabilitj'. 

If  an  abscess  form,  and  if  it  be  not  early  operated  upon 
by  the  surgeon,  it  may  result  in  pyaemia,  septicaemia  and 
death,  or  it  ma}'  form  a  recto-vesical  fistula,  in  which  case 
there  is  a  free  vent  between  the  bladder  and  rectum.  Such 
a  fistula  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  heal ;  and  the  patient, 
continually  dribbling  urine  from  his  rectum  and  being  con- 
stantly x>ervaded  with  a  strong  urinous  atmosphere,  is  an 
object  of  aversion  to  every  one  about  him.  If  there  have 
been  extensive  suppuration  there  will  be  a  serious  and  per- 
manent damage  to  the  urinary  tract ;  the  former  site  of  the 
prostate  being  occupied  by  a  shrivelled,  hardened  and  scar- 
like mass. 

The  prognosis  is  more  serious  in  those  who  have  a  poor 
constitution,  and  in  those  individuals  whose  Avill-power 
fails  to  restrain  them  from  venereal  excesses  or  indulgence 
in  alcohol. 

Prostatorrlioea. — By  this  condition  is  meant  the  abnormal 
flow  of  a  viscid,  glycerin-like  fluid  from  the  jorostate.  It 
may  arise  from  masturbation,  or  from  direct  injuries  in 
the  perineal  region  received  bj^  riding  on  an  improper  sad- 
dle, or  from  axxy  influence  which  inflames  the  prostate 
gland,  though  gonorrhcea  is  by  far  its  most  frequent  cause. 


GONORRHCEA.  873 

In  this  condition  tliere  is  a  flow  of  mucous  fluid,  some- 
times tinged  with  blood,  wliicli  wells  out  in  excessive 
amount  from  tlie  prostate  into  the  urethra,  sometimes  pour- 
ing out  from  the  meatus  so  profusely  that  the  wearing  of  a 
dressing  is  necessary  in  order  to  receive  the  discharge. 
Occasionallj^  the  discharge  is  promoted  by  the  act  of  defe- 
cation. 

In  prostatorrhcea  there  is  usualh^  an  increased  frequenc}' 
of  urination,  with  pain  and  a  sensation  of  weight  on  the 
perimeum  and  rectum. 

During  the  first  few  weeks  ihere  is  a  great  increase  oi 
sexual  desire,  amounting  sometimes  co  a  sexual  fury ;  bnt 
eventually  the  genitals  become  cold  and  flaccid  and  desire 
fails. 

Under  its  effects  some  men  iindergo  a  complete  mental, 
moral  and  phj" sical  shipwreck,  others  acquire  the  habit  of 
masturbation,  while  others  again  are  led  by  their  satj-riasis 
to  cohabit  with  any  woman  whom  thej'  can  approach.  An 
overwhelming  melancholy  settles  upon  some  of  these  pa- 
tients, which  influences  their  every  thought  and  action,  the 
freshness  and  plumpness  of  health  giving  way  to  emacia- 
tion and  the  i:)inched  and  careworn  expression  which  adorns 
the  advertisements  of  the  charlatan. 

If  a  man  who  has  a  chronic  prostatitis  and  prostatorrhcea 
acquires  a  fresh  attack  of  gonorrhoea,  it  is  certain  to  travel 
back  to  the  inflamed  and  uuresistive  tissues  and  there  to 
luxuriate  in  an  aggravated  form.  Unfortunately  these  very 
patients,  with  their  sexual  neurasthenia  and  satyriasis,  are 
probable  candidates  for  contracting  fresh  infections,  being 
unrestrained  either  by  love  for  their  neighbors  or  by  the 
law  of  self-i^reservation. 

Inflammation  of  Coivper^s  Glands.^ — These  two  glands, 
each  the  size  of  a  pea,  discharge  a  viscid  mucus  into  the 
urethra  by  means  of  two  short  ducts.  It  is  hence  easy  to 
understand  how  they  may  become  infected  by  invasion  of 

'  Vide  illustration,  p.  306. 


374  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

tlie  gonorrlioeal  virus.  If  one  of  tliem  become  so  affected 
it  may  remain  indefinitely  as  a  hardened  nodule,  or  it  may 
suppurate  and  discliarge  pus  either  into  the  urethra  or  ex- 
ternally. In  this  manner  fistulas  sometimes  form  which 
allow  the  urine  to  trickle  ayvax  through  the  vents. 

Peri-Urethral  Abscesses. — In  many  cases  of  acute  gonor- 
rhoea the  inflammation  is  not  limited  to  the  urethral  mucous 
membrane,  but  also  implicates  some  of  the  numerous  fol- 
licles and  glands  which  open  bj'  minute  orifices  on  its  sur- 
face. The  physician  maj^  often  distinguish  one  or  more  of 
these  enlarged  follicles  along  the  line  of  the  urethra  of  a 
patient  in  the  acute  stage,  and  not  infrequently  hardened 
nodules  may  be  found  for  months  or  j^ears  after  the  infec- 
tion. Sometimes  these  nodules  remain  in  the  penis  and 
interfere  so  much  with  erection  that  coitus  may  be  impos- 
sible ;  or  they  ina,Y  suppurate  and  open  into  the  urethra, 
or  externally,  and  cause  urinary  fistula3. 

In  other  cases  there  are  chronic  indurations,  or  hardened 
masses,  in  the  substance  of  the  penis — in  its  corpm^a  caver- 
nosa— which  may  cause  the  organ  to  become  distorted  when 
in  a  state  of  erection,  or  there  nia.j  be  an  extensive  slough- 
ing and  destruction  of  the  corpora  cavernosa,  resulting  in 
deformity. 

Balanitis. — In  individuals  with  a  too  long  or  too  tight 
prepuce  the  gonorrlioeal  pus,  and  other  acrid  secretions 
also,  may  be  retained  beneath  the  foreskin  and  set  up  an 
active  inflammation  of  the  glans  penis  and  inner  surface  of 
the  prepuce.  This  condition  cannot  develop  in  those  who 
are  circumcised.  It  sometimes  results  in  erosion  of  the 
head  of  the  penis,  or  in  gaugrene  of  the  x-repuce.  Buboes, 
or  inflammatory  swelling  of  the  lymphatic  glands,  may 
form  in  the  groins  as  a  result  of  this  condition. 


GONORRHCEA.  375 


GONOEEHCEA  IN  WOMEN.' 

Gonorrhoea  in  the  male  in  attended  with  such  painful 
and  distinctly  marked  sj^mptoms  that  its  presence  is  at 
once  noticed;  but  in  the  female  its  early  recognition  is  tho 
exception. 

After  puberty  ever^^  woman  is  accustomed  to  have  a  x^e- 
riodical  discharge  from  the  genitals,  and  little  surprise  is 
felt  at  any  leucorrhoeal  flow,  or  at  a  moderate  amount  of 
local  irritation  between  the  menstrual  periods.  In  fact 
many  women  are  so  accustomed  to  some  vaginal  discharge 
that  they  pay  little  attention  to  any  increase  of  it,  nor  do 
they  hasten  to  seek  for  medical  advice  under  these  circum- 
stances. Discharges  which  by  the  naked  eye  cannot  be 
distinguished  from  gonorrhoe  amay  arise  from  other  causes, 
e.g.,  "catching  cold,"  uterine  tumors,  polypi,  etc. 

Even  the  most  unobservant  man,  having  normally  no  se- 
cretion from  his  genital  organs,  at  once  notices  the  slightest 
discharge,  besides  suffering  severe  pain,  while  the  woman 
may  hardlj^  experience  any  pain  at  the  first  onset  of  the 
disease. 

If  a  married  woman  has  contracted  gonorrhoea  innocently 
from  her  husband,  she  is  of  course  not  informed  by  either 
him  or  her  medical  attendant ;  and  if  a  woman  acquires  it 
out  of  wedlock  her  natural  shame  leads  her  to  conceal  her 
plight  until  she  is  comjDelled  to  seek  relief  for  the  remote 
effects. 

It  is  notorious  as  well  as  surprising  that  practitioners 
rarely  see  cases  of  acute  gonorrhoea  in  women,  except  in 
prostitutes,  and  that  their  assistance  is  usually  sought,  not 
on  account  of  the  suppuration,  but  for  the  relief  of  the 
sequelae,  or  remote  effects,  only  after  irreparable  damage 
has  been  done. 

'  Vide  autlior's  monograph  \rx  American  Journal  of  Obstetrics,  vol. 
xxxiv.,  No.  3,  1896. 


376  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

Altliougli  gonorrlioea  lias  been  clearly  recognized  from 
time  immemorial,  two  decades  have  uot  yet  elapsed  since 
tlie  medical  profession  Las  learned  its  true  significance  and 
its  great  social  importance.  Tlie  chief  impetus  to  the 
study  of  gonorrhoea  has  come  from  gynaecologists  and  ob- 
stetricians, who  are  in  the  best  position  to  observe  its  rav- 
ages in  w^omen ;  and  to-day  w^e  have  a  mass  of  accumulated 
evidence  which  puts  our  ideas  regarding  this  disease  on  a 
firm  scientific  basis. 

The  first  intelligent  cry  of  alarm  w^as  sounded  in  1872  ' 
by  Dr.  Emil  Noeggerath,  of  New  York,  a  gynsecologist,  or 
specialist  in  diseases  of  women. 

His  observations  led  him  to  conclude  that,  as  Kicord,  of 
Paris,  had  previously  said,  eight  hundred  out  of  every 
thousand  men  who  lived  in  large  cities  had  had  gonorrhoea ; 
that  gonorrhoea  in  males,  in  spite  of  apparent  recovery, 
almost  always  remained  latent  for  many  years  or  for  life; 
that  ninety  per  cent  of  women  who  married  these  men 
suffered  from  either  acute  or  latent  gonorrhoea ;  and  that 
the  majority'  of  these  wives  were  either  sterile  or  bore  at 
the  most  from  one  to  three  or  four  children. 

The  following  propositions  were  prosented  by  him  in  a 
second  paper  in  1876 : ' 

"  1.  Gonorrhoea  in  the  male,  as  well  as  in  the  female, 
persists  for  life  in  certain  sections  of  the  organs  of  genera- 
tion, notwithstanding  its  apparent  cure  in  a  great  many 
instances. 

"  2.  There  is  a  form  of  gonorrhoea  which  may  be  called 
latent  gonorrhoea,  in  the  male,  as  well  as  in  the  female. 

"  3.  Latent  gonorrhoea  in  the  male,  as  well  as  in  the 
female,  may  infect  a  health}'  person  either  with  acute 
gonorrhoea  or  gleet. 

"4.  Latent  gonorrhoea  in  the  female,  either  the  conse- 
quence of  an  acute  gonorrhoeal  invasion  or  not,  if  it  pasa 

^  "  Die  lateute  Gonorrlioe  im  weililichen  Geschlecht.  " 

*  Translations,  American  Gynaecological  Society,  1876,  p.  273. 


GONORRHCEA.  377 

from  the  latent  into  tlie  apparent  condition,  manifests  itself 
as  acute,  chronic,  recurrent  perimetritis  (inflammation  con- 
tiguous to  uterus) ,  or  ovaritis,  or  as  catarrh  of  certain  sec- 
tions of  the  genital  organs. 

"  5.  Latent  gonorrhoea,  in  becoming  apparent  in  the  male, 
does  so  by  attacks  of  gleet  or  epididymitis. 

"  6.  About  ninety  per  cent  of  sterile  women  are  married 
to  husbands  who  have  suffered  from  gonorrhoea  either  pre- 
vious to,  or  during  married  life." 

Noeggerath's  assertion,  that  such  a  vast  amount  of  dis- 
ease, suffering  and  sterility  in  women  was  due  to  their 
marriage  with  old  gonorrhoeal  patients,  most  of  whom  were 
supposed  to  be  cured,  met  with  a  storm  of  opposition  from 
medical  men  in  both  hemispheres ;  but  his  dignified  answer 
was  as  follows :  "  After  the  gentlemen  have  given  five  years 
or  more  of  careful  study  to  this  question,  I  shall  exj^ect  to 
hear  more  approval  than  I  have  done  to-day.'"  At  the 
present  time  his  name  is  held  in  high  honor  in  medical 
circles,  though  his  views  have  been  considerably  modified, 
as  is  usually  the  case  with  the  promulgators  of  new  doc- 
trines. In  the  last  edition  of  his  standard  work  on  gonor- 
rhoea, Finger  says:^  "At  first  Noeggerath's  conclusions 
encountered  only  opposition.  ...  It  was  not  until  the  dis- 
covery of  the  gonococcus  that  this  question  was  cleared  up 
and  Noeggerath's  opinions  were  found  to  be  in  the  main 
correct." 

The  conservative  belief  of  recent  times  is  that  a  werj  large 
number,  a  majority,  of  old  gonorrhoeal  patients  of  both 
sexes  continue  to  harbor  gouococci  within  their  genito- 
urinary spheres  for  months  or  years,  and  sometimes  for  a 
lifetime,  unless  they  have  received  very  intelligent  treats 
ment  which  the  most  skilful  specialists  alone  are  able  to 
give ;  and  that  a  certain  proportion  never  can  be  cured  and 
consequently  never  should  marry. 

After  Noeggerath's  stirring  propositions,  the  next  im« 
^Loc.  cit,  p.  300.  2  Op.  cit..  p.  272,  1893. 


378  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

portant  advance  in  onr  knowledge  of  gonorrhcEa  was  made 
in  1879,  when  Neisser, '  of  Breslan,  proclaimed  the  discov- 
ery of  tlie  germ  of  gonorrhoea,  which  microbe  he  named 
the  "  Gonococcus."  This  discovery  he  further  substantiated 
by  a  second  publication  in  1882,"  and  at  the  present  time 
this  gonococcus  is  definitely  accepted  by  scientists  as  the 
infective  organism,  for  it  has  x^assed  through  the  impera- 
tive ordeal  of  Koch's  classical  tests:  («),  of  being  present 
in  every  case  of  gonorrhoea,  and  in  no  other  disease;  (h), 
of  having  been  proj^agated  by  culture,  the  new  colonies  of 
germs  corresponding  to  those  which  are  under  experimen- 
tation; (c),  of  always  reproducing  the  specific  disease 
when  implanted  on  human  mucous  membranes,  e.g.^  the 
urethra,  conjunctiva,  etc. 

No  specific  microbe  has  been  subjected  to  such  furious 
opposition  as  this  gonococcus,  and  for  years  the  contro- 
versy continued,  until  in  1892  an  Austrian  physician,  Wer- 
theim,^  quieted  all  contention  by  cultivations  of  the  gono- 
cocci  in  human  blood  serum  and  subsequent  successful 
inoculations  of  the  cultures  into  healthy  male  urethrge. 

Only  since  the  discovery  of  this  gonococcus  has  it  been 
possible  accurately  to  diagnose  all  the  phases  of  gonorrhoea 
in  women,  and  before  that  important  event  medical  practi- 
tioners were  quite  unable  to  recognize  a  large  number  of 
such  cases — as  are  those  to-day  who  are  not  skilled  in 
microscopy — having  nothing  on  which  to  base  their  opin- 
ions except  certain  inflammatory  conditions  in  the  genital 
area  quite  undistinguishable  from  other  like  conditions 
which  were  not  gonorrhoeal  (e.g.,  the  acrid  discharges  ac- 
companying uterine  fibroids,  polypi,  cancers,  and  catarrhal 
inflammatory  conditions). 

'"Uebereine  der  Gonorrhoe  eigenthumliche  lilicrococcusform," 
Centralblatt  fur  die  med.  Wissenschaften,  No.  28,  1879. 

2  "DieMicrococcen  der  Gonorrhoe, "  Deutsche  med.  Wochenschrift, 
p.  279. 

^"Die  asceudireude  Gonorrhoe  beim  Weibe, "  1893  Archiv  fur 
Gynakol.,  Bd.  42. 


GONORRHCEA.  B79 

Furtliermore,  in  addition  to  the  inability  to  recognize 
the  disease  even  when  actively  present,  it  was  also  unap- 
preciated that  gouorhoea  in  women  was  a  most  serious  aifec- 
tion,  and  that  its  desx)oilments  and  ravages  within  her 
internal  sexual  organs  and  peritoneal  cavity  were  far  more 
severe  and  fatal  than  those  of  syphilis. 

Frequency  of  Gonorrhoea  in  Women. — In  long-standing 
cases  of  gonorrhoea  it  is  often  impossible  to  distinguish 
gonococci  in  the  discharges,  and  it  may  be  that  they  can  only 
be  found  in  the  pus  and  diseased  tissues  of  the  ovaries  and 
Fallopian  tubes  after  removal  of  these  argans  by  surgical 
means.  Hence  we  cannot  rely  solely  on  the  gonococcus  for 
diagnosis  in  all  cases,  but  must  also  pay  careful  attention 
to  the  clinical,  or  bedside,  data. 

According  to  Taylor,'  on  account  of  the  greater  licen- 
tiousness of  men,  there  are  approximately  thirty  cases  of 
gonorrhoea  among  them  to  one  case  in  women. 

According  to  Noeggerath's  conclusions  eighty  per  cent  of 
married  women  suffer  from  latent  gonorrhoea.  Saenger,  of 
Leipsic,  believes  that  one-eighth  of  all  women  who  suffer 
from  diseases  peculiar  to  their  sex  are  infected  with  gon- 
orrhoea; and  Sigmund,  director  of  the  venereal  clinic  in 
Vienna,  found  that  in  seven  hundred  and  fifty-eight  i^ublic 
women,  sixty-three  per  cent  wore  gonorrhoeal. 

German  authorities  impute  twenty-three  to  twent}- -eight 
per  cent  of  all  diseases  of  the  internal  sexual  organs  of 
women  to  gonorrhoea;  English  and  American  authorities 
place  it  at  seventy  per  cent. 

Pagenstecher,"  a  pupil  of  Professor  Saenger  at  the  gynae- 
cological clinic  in  Leipsic,  says :  "  The  result  of  our  studies 
regarding  the  frequency  of  gonorrhoea  in  the  female  sex  is 
that,  according  to  the  mode  of  living  and  the  morality  of 
the  various  classes,  it  covers  from  twenty  to  sixtj^-three 

1 "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  173. 

^"Gonorrhoea,  its  Symptoms  and  Consequences  in  Both  Sexes," 
English  translation,  p.  86,  1896. 


380  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

per  cent,  whicli  is  to  say,  tliut  in  good  moral  families  every 
fifth  woman  has  a  gonorrhoea,  and  among  the  public  women 
there  are  two  out  of  three.  These  figures  will  surely  ap- 
pear too  high,  I  know  well;  yet  when  we  consider  that  at 
least  seven  out  of  ten  young  men  have  had  a  case  of  gonor- 
rhoea, and  that  the  most  of  them  are  never  cured  to  the  point 
that  they  can  no  more  be  infectious,  we  shall  then  understand 
how,  after  being  married,  they  contaminate  their  wives,  so 
that  the  latter,  although  virtuous,  accpiire  the  gonorrhoea, 
for  who  could  give  it  to  them  except  their  husbands?" 

Valentine,'  professor  of  genito-urinary  diseases  at  the 
New  York  school  of  clinical  medicine  says : 

"Noeggerath,  of  New  York,  fully  thirty'  years  ago, 
sounded  the  first  note  of  alarm  in  tliis  connection.  On 
purely  clinical  grounds  he  attributed  a  vast  joroportion  of 
death-dealing  diseases  in  women  to  gonorrhoea  which  the 
husbands  had  had  years  before.  Noeggerath's  assumption 
has  been  more  than  borne  out  by  recent  science." 

These  are  the  views  of  recognized  authorities  who  cannot 
lightly  be  set  aside  as  extremists.  Gonorrhoea  is  a  disease 
wdiich  lingers  in  men  long  after  apparent  cure,  only  to  in- 
fect innocent  wives,  as  well  as  helpless  mistresses,  and  as 
Sinclair  saj's: 

"  It  is  the  neglected  cases  of  gonorrhoea  in  the  male — 
those  which  become  chronic — which  most  frequently  give 
rise  to  the  infection  of  the  female,  even  though  they  may 
have  long  ceased  to  show  signs  of  activity." 

However,  whether  the  foregoing  statements  have  been 
overdra\^Ti  or  not,  the  medical  profession  has  within  recent 
years  unanimously  come  to  a  realization  of  the  fact  that 
gonorrhoea  is  the  principal  cause  of  the  so  frequent  steril- 
ity and  disease  of  the  sexual  organs  in  women,  and  that 
the  suffering  and  racial  degradation  from  this  cause  is 
appalling. 

'  American  Medico-Surgical  Bulletin,  October  1,  1895. 
"  "On  Gonorrhoeal  Infection  in  Women,"  London,  1888. 


GONOERHCEA.  381 

Mode  of  Onset  and  Gravity  of  the  Besult. — In  the  genital 
organs  of  the  female  there  is  a  greater  extent  of  mucous 
membrane  than  in  the  male,  and  their  functions  are  more 
active.  Furthermore,  there  is  in  woman  a  direct  commu- 
nication between  the  sexual  passages  and  the  peritoneal  cav- 
ity, which  renders  the  consequences  far  more  grave.  In 
woman  gonorrhoea  not  only  tends  to  become  chronic  and  to 
invade  the  internal  sexual  organs  with  destructive  changes, 
but  with  each  recurrence  of  menstruation  there  is  also  a 
likelihood  of  its  renewed  activity  and  further  spread ;  and 
especially  does  danger  threaten  if  she  become  pregnant — 
the  results  not  showing  fully  until  some  weeks  after  the 
full-time  labor  or  miscarriage. 

Gonorrhoea  in  an  acute  form  may  be  imparted  to  a  woman 
by  a  man  suffering  from  acute  gonorrhoea ;  and  an  uncured 
male  with  chronic  or  latent  gonorrhoea  may  communicate 
to  her  the  disease  in  a  chronic  or  latent — and  sometimes 
even  in  the  acute — form. 

1.  In  the  acute  form  the  initial  stage  of  the  disease  in 
the  female,  as  in  the  male,  usuallj^  lasts  from  two  to  five 
days;  occasionally  it  supervenes  rapidly  within  the  first 
day,  or  is  sometimes  delayed  until  the  fourteenth  day. 

After  the  initial  period  has  passed  the  discharge  becomes 
muco-purulent  and  yellow  and  consists  of  pus  cells  and 
serum.  In  addition  to  the  destructive  work  of  the  gono- 
cocci,  other  pathogenic,  or  disease-generating,  microbes 
rapidly  multiply  in  the  devitalized  tissues  and  modify  the 
character  of  the  discharges  so  that  they  soon  become  yel- 
lowish-green. This  simultaneous  develoi:»ment  of  gono- 
cocci  and  other  pus-producing  microbes  is  called  a  "mixed 
infection,"  and  it  was  precisely  these  adventitious  organ- 
isms which  so  long  baffled  the  efforts  of  investigators  to 
isolate  the  gonococci. 

On  the  decline  of  the  purulent  stage  the  secretion  becomes 
thickened,  by  the  agglutination  of  the  pus-cells  with  mucus, 
so  that  yellowish-white  clumps  are  present  in  the  urine  of 


382  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

women  as  well  as  in  tliat  of  men.  In  these  fluffy  clumps — 
called  "  claii-tlireads, "  or  hj  tlie  Germans  "  Tripper-faden" 
— and  in  the  discharges,  and  in  the  rugosities  and  crypts 
of  the  mucous  membranes,  the  gonococci  may  persist  for 
months  or  years.  Within  the  first  few  days  following  the 
impure  intercourse,  or  after  infection  by  a  diseased  hus- 
band, there  occurs  a  free,  purulent  secretion  from  the  vulva, 
vagina  and  urethra,  i.e.,  from  the  external  sexual  appara- 
tus. The  inflammation  may  remain  localized  there;  but  in 
course  of  time,  as  a  rule,  it  spreads  to  the  uterus,  ralloi:)ian 
tubes,  ovaries  and  peritoneal  tissues  in  the  pelvis,  i.e.,  to 
the  internal  sexual  apparatus.  So  intense  may  be  -the 
course  of  the  disease  that  the  woman  may  suffer  pitiably — 
or  die  from  a  purulent  peritonitis,  or  from  rupture  of  a 
suppurating  ralloi)ian  tube. 

2.  In  the  chronic,  or  latent,  form  the  woman  may  acquire 
a  gonorrhoea  without  being  able  to  fix  any  precise  date  of 
infection,  and  indeed  she  may  never  be  aware  of  the  cause 
of  her  illness. 

The  following  supposititious  case,  illustrative  of  actual 
ones  dail}^  seen  by  practitioners,  is  cited  by  Valentine:' 

"  A  man  contracts  gonorrhoea.  After  a  time  all  discharge 
and  other  evidences  of  the  disease  disappear.  His  physi- 
cian dismisses  him  as  completelj'  cured. 

"  Five,  ten,  or  more  years  later  he  has  almost,  if  not  en- 
tirely, drojDped  from  his  mind  this,  with  other  disagree- 
able recollections.  He  marries  a  healthy,  strong  girl. 
The  young  wife  soon  begins  to  fade.  Vague  pains  set  in. 
If  her  friends  love  her,  she  will  be  twitted  with  congratula- 
tions and  advice  regarding  the  presumed  coming  maternity. 
Her  form,  too,  suggests  such  possibility.  But  by  the  time 
when,  or  before,  the  child  that  is  to  make  her  still  more 
loved  by  her  husband  is  expected,  it  is  found  necessary  to 
seek  professional  advice. 

'  "  Wlien  May  Gonorrliceal  Patients  Marry  ?"  American  MedicO' 
Surgical  Bulletin,  October  1,  1895. 


GONORRHCEA.  383 

"A  cyst  of  the  ovary,  a  Fallopian  tube  filled  witli  pus  or 
some  otlier  dangerous  disease,  is  discovered.  An  opera- 
tion, perilous  to  life,  must  be  performed  to  save  her.  If 
she  survive,  she  will  no  longer  be  a  woman,  for  she  cannot 
become  a  mother.  The  light  of  modern  microscojiy, 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  tumor,  cyst,  tube,  or  other  sub- 
stance removed,  shows  gonococci.  Kemember  that  this 
wreck,  but  a  few  short  months  ago  a  vigorous,  healths- 
woman,  was  'as  chaste  as  ice,  as  pure  as  snow.'  Remem- 
ber, too,  that  her  husband  presented  no  sensory  evidence 
of  the  disease  that  killed  his  cherished  wife.  Killed — the 
word  is  advisedly  employed^for,  though  she  live,  she  is 
worse  than  dead;  she  is  not  only  unsexed  but  also  x)hysi- 
cally  destroyed." 

How  dismal  is  the  history  of  many  a  pure  young  woman 
who  marries  with  all  the  accompaniments  of  a  i^erfect  wed- 
ding celebration !  From  their  husbands'  latent  gonorrhoeas 
many  of  them  contract  conditions  which  alter  their  lives 
and  even  their  characters.  They  suffer  from  backaches, 
leucorrhoea,  irregular  and  painful  menstruation,  urinary 
disorders,  external  inflammatory  conditions,  localized  peri- 
tonitis from  escape  of  gonorrhoeal  pus  into  the  abdominal 
cavity,  enlarged  and  tender  inguinal  glands,  loss  of  their 
healthful  beauty,  lassitude,  hysteria,  dread  of  the  marital 
embrace,  sterility,  abortions  and  death. 

The  latent,  or  chronic,  form  would  not  necessarily  be 
attributed  to  the  husband's  fault;  the  acute  form  very 
probably  would  be. 

It  is  certainly  the  duty  of  every  man  who  has  had  gonor- 
rhoea to  abstain  from  marriage  until  permission  has  been 
obtained  from  a  trustworthy^  physician ;  and  no  individual 
who  expects  ever  to  marry  has  any  right  to  indulge  in  sex- 
ual impurity. 

"  If  then  the  young  man  decides  to  avail  himself  of  the 
offers  of  those  women  who  sell  their  questionable  favors, 
lie  exposes  himself  to  infection  with  syphilis  and  gonor- 


384  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

rlioea,  botli  of  wliicli  may  be  communicated  to  an  innocent 
woman  wlio  lias  tlie  misfortune  of  marrying  liim.  Syphilis 
may  cause  abortions  or  give  rise  to  the  birth  of  a  syphilitic 
child ;  gonorrhea  leads  often  to  the  deplorable  condition  we 
have  described  above,  and  is  a  common  cause  of  blindness 
in  the  newborn  if  it  does  not  entail  sterility. 

"  A  man  may  be  willing  to  run  the  risk  of  being  infected 
himself,  but  he  has  not  the  right  to  draw  his  future  wife 
and  his  offsi^viug  into  his  own  calamity,  so  much  less  so 
as  their  condition  caused  by  his  recklessness  is  infinitely 
worse  than  his  own.  Many  a  young  man  is  not  only  in- 
different to,  but  often  proud  of  having  acquired,  a  disease 
which  sometimes  does  not  inconvenience  him  more  than  a 
cold  in  his  head,  and  yet  this  slight  disease,  which  even 
has  a  pet  name,  may  cost  his  future  wife  her  life  or  result 
in  lifelong  blindness  of  his  child."  ' 

As  previously  stated,  physicians  do  not  as  a  rule  see  the 
earlier  stages  of  infection  in  women,  but  are  called  in  only 
when  all  the  beacon-fires  are  lighted  and  burning.  Then 
they  see  miserable,  suffering  wrecks,  i)anting  with  fever, 
with  furred  tongues  and  foul  breath,  with  a  history  of  seri- 
ous menstrual  troubles,  with  copious  and  purulent  vaginal 
discharges,  and  dreading  the  pain  of  examination.  In  such 
cases  it  is  almost  always  necessary-  to  submit  the  patients 
to  the  severest  surgical  operations,  cutting  open  their 
abdomens  and  removing  the  sexual  organs  as  well  as  the 
pus  sacs  which  have  formed  around  them. 

Let  us  now  shortly  consider  the  favorite  sites  of  gonor- 
rhoea! infection  in  women. 

Gonorrhceal  Urethritis. — The  female  urethra,  contrary  to 
former  views,  is  more  uniformly  infected  than  any  other 
part.  The  period  of  incubation — two  to  five  days— and  the 
general  symptoms  are  much  the  same  as  in  the  male.  At 
first  there  is  a  burning  sensation  during  the  prodromal 

'  "  Protection  for  the  Future  Wife  and  Children, "  H.  J.  Garrigues, 
M.D.,  American  Medico-Surgical  Bulletin,''  October  31,  1896. 


GONORRHCEA.  -  385 

stage,  which  becomes  aggravated  with  the  onset  of  the  acute 
stage,  during  which  a  greenish-yellow  pus  is  poured  out, 
excoriating  the  surfaces  over  which  it  flows. 

The  urethra  in  women,  being  a  very  short  (two  and  a 
half  to  three  inches)  and  almost  straight  tube,  is  very  lia- 
ble to  become  infected  in  its  whole  length,  and  by  contiguity 
the  bladder  also  is  frequently  involved.  With  the  spread 
of  the  disease  to  the  bladder  there  is  great  sufl'ering,  which 
amounts  to  agony,  frequency  of  urination,  and  scalding  of 
the  tissues  upon  which  the  urine  falls.  The  urethral  dis- 
charge may  remain  infectious  for  months,  and  occasionally 
the  inflammatory  condition  causes  stricture,  though  not 
nearly  so  frequently  as  in  the  male.  There  is  also  great 
danger  of  septic  infection  of  the  kidneys,  wdiich  of  course 
induces  invalidism  and  gravely  menaces  life. 

Gonorrhjeal  Vaginitis. — The  vagina  is  frequently  the  pri- 
mary site  of  infection.  There  is  the  same  yellowish-green 
discharge,  which  slowly  diminishes  in  amount  and  eventu- 
ally disapi)ears.  The  symptoms  may  be  passed  over  un- 
recognized, or  there  may  be  intense  i:)ain  and  irritation, 

A  chronic  gonorrhoeal  vaginitis — vaginitis  granulosa — is 
very  common  in  prostitutes,  resulting  in  a  characteristic 
roughened  and  leathery  condition  of  the  mucous  mem- 
brane. Broese'  says:  "One  can  scarcely  err  if  he  as- 
sumes that  all  prostitutes  are  infected  with  gonorrhoea, 
especially  if  they  have  exercised  their  profession  for  any 
length  of  time."  This  roughening  of  the  vaginal  mucous 
membrane  in  prostitutes  is  partly  due  to  gonorrhoea  and 
partly  to  the  frequent  use  of  astringent  injections,  employed 
with  a  view  to  make  their  vaginae  appear  virginal  in  size. 

Gonorrhoeal  Invasion  of  Bartholin's  Glands. — Bartho- 
lin's glands  (vulvo-vaginal  glands)  are  two  glands  situated 
on  either  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  vagina ;  each  gland 
has  a  diameter  of  a  little   over  half  an  inch,   and   each 

'  "Zur  Aetiologie,  Diagnose  und  Therapie  der  weiblichen  Gonor- 
rhbe,''''  Deutsche  med.  Wochenschrift  (quoted  by  Taylor) ,  1893. 

25 


;?86  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

secretes  a  lubricating  fluid  whicli  is  poured  out  on  tlie 
vulva  just  outside  the  hymen  by  the  intervention  of  a  duct 
of  small  co^libre. 

When  gonococci  invade  these  glands,  through  the  ducts, 
they  break  down  into  pus  sacs  of  about  the  size  of  a  hen's 
egg  and  become  exquisitely  sensitive.  It  is  an  extremely 
obstinate  affection,  and  recovery  -uithout  surgical  aid  is  not 
to  be  expected.  The  gonococci  may  remain  indefinitely  in 
these  glands,  and  often  the  only  evidence  of  chronic  gonor- 
rhoea in  women  lurks  within  them.  The  pus  from  them  is 
highly  infectious.  This  affection  is  very  common  in  pros- 
titutes. 

GonorrlioBol  Invasion  of  iliG  Uferus,  Fallopian  Tubes,  Ova- 
ries and  Peritoneal  Cavity.— The  gravity  of  the  results  when 
gonorrhoea  spreads  to  the  internal  sexual  organs  has  been 
sufficiently  indicated  in  the  preceding  pages  to  render  fur- 
ther elaboration  unnecessary.  If  a  woman  contract  this 
terrible  disease  we  look  upon  it  as  a  matter  of  course  that 
the  process  wdll  spread  in  time  to  her  organs  of  procrea- 
tion, unless  treatment  be  successful  in  destroying  all  the 
•  gonococci.  When  once  the  Fallopian  tubes,  ovaries  and 
peritoneum  are  involved,  we  are  powerless  to  stop  the  rav- 
ages of  the  germs,  and  can  only  hold  ourselves  in  readiness 
for  the  grave  mutilating  operation  which  in  most  cases  be- 
comes necessary  in  order  to  save  life.  The  objection  of 
unsexing  the  women  does  not  apply  in  these  cases,  for  the 
disease  has  already  done  that. 

Residiml,  or  Latent  Symptoms  of  Gonorrhoea  ivhich  are 
Characteristic. — Gouorrhcea,  unlike  syphilis,  leaves  no  deep 
scars,  but  nevertheless  characteristic  alterations  are  left  on 
the  surface  of  the  mucous  membranes,  which  render  it  pos- 
sible for  the  expert  to  affirm  that  the  woman  has  at  some 
time  had  the  disease.  Saenger,  of  Leipsic,  calls  these 
chronic  conditions  "  residual  gonorrhoea, "  while  others  em- 
ploy Noeggerath's  term  of  "  latent  gonorrhoea."  Instead  of 
ulcers,  as  in  syphilis,  there  are  left  behind  certain  inflam- 


GONORRHCEA.  887 

matory  areas,  wMcli  Professor  Saenger  calls  "  gonorrlioeal 
macnlae."  These  pathological  spots,  or  maculae,  remain 
for  long  periods  of  time,  or  even  permanently,  and  from 
them  there  is  a  "  migration,"  or  exudation  of  leucocytes,  or 
white  blood  corpuscles  (phagocytes),  within  which  gono- 
cocci  are  embedded. 

As  long  as  the  specific  infection  remains  localized  in  the 
vagina  and  other  external  i)arts  of  the  sexual  apparatus 
there  is  no  great  menace  to  the  patient's  health  or  life,  ap- 
parently, but  on  account  of  the  periodicity  in  women  the 
disease,  as  pointed  out  heretofore,  is  always  liable  to  in- 
vade the  internal  organs  of  procreation,  and  almost  certain 
to  do  so  if  the  woman  become  pregnant.  In  pregnancy 
the  enlargement  of  the  uterus  facilitates  the  spread  of  the 
disease  by  opening  up  the  passages  of  communication,  and 
especially  after  childbirth  or  a  miscarriage  there  is  almost 
a  certainty  that  the  cavity  of  the  uterus  will  become  in- 
volved, owing  to  the  physiological  denudation  at  the  pla- 
cental site  whereby  an  ojjen  wound  is  left. 

In  those  cases  where  gonorrhoea  has  spread  to  the  in- 
ternal genital  organs  there  is  almost  surely  a  complete  de- 
struction of  their  normal  functions ;  and  in  many  instances 
the  uterus.  Fallopian  tubes,  ovaries,  intestines  and  bladder 
are  matted  together  by  peritoneal  adhesions  into  a  compact 
mass,  so  as  to  render  the  patient  a  comj^lete  invalid.  If 
operative  interference  be  attemi)ted,  as  it  usualh^  must  be, 
the  difficulties  presented  are  extraordinary.  These  resid- 
ual signs  in  the  internal  structures,  though  not  so  conclu- 
sive as  the  external  maculae,  afford  ground  for  referring 
the  cause  to  gonorrhoea,  though  other  conditions  may  i^ro- 
duce  very  similar  results. 

Sterility  from  GonorrJicea. — Gonorrhoea  is  characterized 
by  its  great  tendency  to  cause  sterility,  while  the  tendencj- 
of  syphilis  is  to  bring  about  abortion  after  abortion.  Thus 
nature  protects  the  future  of  the  human  race  from  a  pre- 
ponderance of  vicious  offspring.     Women  who  are  married 


888  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

to  men  wlio  Lave  old,  uncured  gonorrlioeas — gonococci-bear- 
ing  men — may  remain  in  fairly  good  liealtli  till  tlie  first 
pregnancy,  after  wliicli,  as  explained,  tliej'  are  liable  to  be- 
come sterile  and  to  reqviire  tlie  gravest  surgical  operations. 
The  trouble  does  not  usually  manifest  itself  actively  until 
several  weeks  after  cliildbirtli,  and  thus  the  correct  diag- 
nosis is  generally  missed.  Saenger  calls  this  "  one-child 
sterility."  Many  years  subsequently',  perhaps,  another 
child  may  be  born,  but  usually  the  sterility  is  brought 
about  completely  at  the  first  parturition.  Of  course  the 
wives  of  many  old  gonorrhoeal  men  never  have  even  the  one 
child — the  uterus  and  ovaries  becoming  embedded  in  exu- 
dations very  earh*  after  marriage. 

"  In  investigating  the  causes  of  sterility,  so  pronounced 
among  the  women  of  France,  the  commission  charged  to 
study  this  question  reached  the  following  results, '  viz : 

"  Twenty-four  per  cent  of  all  the  French  marriages  were 
marked  with  a  complete  sterility. 

"  Twenty  per  cent  more  never  had  more  than  one  child, 
and  if  the  authors  of  the  above  statistics  have  given  out 
that  the  principal  cause  of  this  surprising  i)henomenon  was 
the  syphilis  so  general  in  France,  the  German  physicians 
have  the  conviction  that  it  was  also  greatly  due  to  gonor- 
rhoea, without  at  the  same  time  denying  the  evil  influence 
of  syi^hilis."  ^ 

In  addition  to  these  causes  criminal  abortion  is  also  an 
important  factor  in  keeping  down  the  birth  rate. 

Husbands  often  lie  when  questioned  about  their  previ- 
ous gonorrhoeas,  and  women,  as  a  rule,  are  less  truthful 
and  communicative  regarding  their  amours  than  men.  But 
notwithstanding  this,  the  careful  physician  can  often  quite 
accurately  conclude  whether  a  woman  has  had  gonorrhoea 
by  learning  (1),  the  history  of  the  first  childbirth;  (2), 
whether  a  second  pregnancy-  ever  resulted;   (3),  whether 

»Chervin:  Bulletin  de  l Academic,  October  30,  1888. 
^Pagenstecher,  loc.  cit.,  p.  95. 


GONORRHCEA.  389 

the  child's  eyes  were  infected  shortly  after  birth;  and  (4), 
the  state  of  the  mother's  health  thereafter,' 

In  sterile  marriages  it  is  quite  the  rule  for  the  husband 
to  put  the  blame  upon  the  wife,  but  in  a  large  number  of 
instances  he  himself  has  either  caused  her  sterility,  or  is 
impotent  to  jjrocreate. 

Complications  of  Gonoerhcea  Common  to  Both  Sexes. 

It  has  been  deemed  necessary  to  devote  a  relatively  large 
amount  of  space  to  the  foregoing  descriptions  of  gonorrhoea 
in  the  male  and  female.  In  few  words  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  combat  the  prevalent  erroneous  ideas  regarding 
this  disease,  and  forcibly  to  impress  upon  the  reader  the 
very  important  fact  that  it  is  one  of  the  most  pernicious  of 
all  maladies.  Much  could  yet  be  said  upon  this  topic,  but, 
having  explained  the  general  history  of  the  disease  as  it 
exists  locally  in  the  sexual  organs,  we  must  condense  our 
remarks  on  the  remaining  manifestations.  However,  the 
reader  must  not,  because  of  this  condensation,  assume  that 
the  following  affections  are  in  any  way  trivial,  for  some  of 
them  represent  the  most  aggravated  and  dangerous  of  the 
phases  of  gonorrhoea.  So  far  in  our  study  of  this  disease 
we  have  only  observed  it  as  a  local  disorder  causing  mis- 
chief at  sites  where  gonococci  were  implanted.  But  in  a 
certain  number  of  cases  these  organisms  are  carried  in  the 
blood-stream  to  remote  parts  of  the  body,  where  they  con- 
tinue their  tendency  to  cause  suppuration.  When  this  un- 
toward result  occurs,  the  gonococci  thriving  in  the  joints, 
heart,  brain,  or  elsewhere,  the  conditions  are  uncontrollable 
by  any  medical  measures,  and  little  can  be  done,  outside 
of  careful  nursing,  except  to  watch  the  uncertain  course  of 
the  disease. 

Gonorrhoeal  Infammation  of  the  Kidneys  and  Bladde7\ — 

Invasion  of  the  bladder  often  occurs  by  direct  propagation 

'  Of  course  it   must   not  be  assumed  that  all  cases  of  complete 
Sterility  or  of  "one-child  sterility"  are  to  be  attributed  to  gonorrlioea. 


390  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

and  spread  of  tlie  gonococci  from  the  uretlira,  or  bj^  artifi- 
cial implantation  if  a  catheter  has  carried  the  organisms 
down  from  that  passage.  On  the  other  hand,  if  gonococci 
are  circulating  in  the  blood,  they  may  be  eliminated  with 
the  urine  through  the  kidneys  and  thus  invade  them. 

Buboes. — Inflammation  and  suppuration  of  the  inguinal 
glands  sometimes  occur  as  the  result  of  gonorrhoea,  though 
the  same  condition  may  result  from  chancroid,  syi)hilis, 
cancer,  tuberculosis,  and  other  afl'ections. 

Peritonitis. — In  the  female  we  saw  that  i^eritonitis  was 
exceedingly  common  as  a  result  of  the  escape  of  gonorrhoeal 
pus  from  the  Fallopian  tubes  into  the  peritoneal  cavity. 
In  the  male,  peritonitis  may  also  occasionally  be  caused, 
not  by  direct  contamination  as  in  the  female,  but  by  mi- 
gration of  the  gonococci  through  the  tissues,  e.g.,  when 
the  seminal  vesicles,  which  lie  in  close  relationship  to  the 
peritoneum,  are  involved.  Intense  suffering  is  always  the 
rule,  and  death  is  very  frequently  the  result. 

Gonorrha'cd  Blieumatism. — This  affection  is  a  form  of 
septic  infection  and  is  in  no  way  akin  to  ordinar^^  rheuma- 
tism. It  is  more  common  in  men  because  gonorrhoea  is 
far  more  prevalent  among  them ;  but  it  may  occur  in  either 
sex  at  any  age,  even  in  an  infant  suffering  with  gonorrhoeal 
inflammation  of  the  eyes. 

It  usually  develops  from  two  to  four  months  after  the 
local  infection  in  the  sexual  organs.  It  is  caused  by  gon- 
ococci entering  the  blood-stream  and  being  carried  to 
remote  parts.  The  knee-joint  is  most  frequently  involved, 
and,  next  in  frequency,  the  ankle,  wrist,  finger-joints, 
elbow,  shoulder,  hip,  jaw,  etc.  Many  joints,  however, 
may  be  involved  at  the  same  time.  The  tendency  of  gon- 
ococci, wherever  situated,  is  to  promote  suppuration,  and 
not  infrequenth'  an  ankylosis  results  in  the  affected  joint, 
whereby  the  bones  which  enter  into  its  formation  coalesce, 
or  grow  together,  so  that  consolidation  or  stiffening  occurs. 
As  complications  of  gonorrhoeal  rheumatism  there  may  also 


GONORRHCEA.  391 

be  serous  effusions  into  tlie  slieatlis  of  tendons,  various 
inflammations  in  the  eyeball,  in  the  large  veins,  in  tlie 
brain,  heart,  etc.  With  each  new  infection  of  gonorrhoea 
there  is  a  great  tendency  to  relapse.  Taylor'  says  that  it 
occurs  in  ten  per  cent  of  gonorrhceal  cases.  Treatment  is 
exceedingly  unsatisfactory,  no  drug  being  known  which 
antagonizes  the  activity  of  the  gonococci,  and  in  many  in- 
stances it  becomes  necessary  for  the  surgeon  to  open  the 
joint  and  wash  out  the  purulent  synovial  fluids  with  germi- 
cides. The  severest  constitutional  effects  are  as  liable  to 
follow  upon  a  mild  case  of  gonorrhoea  as  upon  a  severe 
attack;  and  in  no  case  can  the  physician  give  assurance  that 
grave  sei^tic  infections  will  not  result. 

Gonorrhoeal  Affections  of  the  Heart,  and  Pycemia  (septic 
contamination  of  the  blood). — Since  the  discovery  of  the 
gonococcus  a  number  of  well-attested  cases  of  gonorrhoeal 
affections  of  the  heart  have  been  reported,  usually  occur- 
ring as  complications  of  gonorrhoeal  rheumatism,  but  not 
necessarily  so. 

The  gonococci  produce  ulcerative  conditions  on  the  valves 
of  the  heart,  leaving  permanent  damage  behind  and  making 
the  prognosis  grave.  Sometimes  the  microbes  are  i)resent 
in  such  number  in  the  blood  that  they  produce  a  blood- 
poisoning  and  abscesses;  and  other  inflammatory  condi- 
tions may  appear  in  any  organ  or  tissue  of  the  body.  The 
mildest  attacks  of  gonorrhoea  may  be  followed  by  these 
constitutional  symptoms. 

Gonorrhoeal  Conjunctivitis  and  Gonorrheal  Ophthalmia. — 
These  specific  infections  of  the  eye  characteristically  show 
the  action  of  the  gonococci,  the  one  as  a  result  of  local  in- 
fection, the  other  as  a  result  of  systemic  invasion. 

Of  the  two,  gonorrhoeal  ophthalmia  is  the  more  frequent, 
while  gonorrhoeal  conjunctivitis  is  the  more  grave. 

Gonorrhoeal  ophthalmia  results  secondarily  from  sep- 
ticaemic  infection  and  is  quite  uncontrollable  by  any  line  of 

'  Loc.  cit.,  p.  261. 


392  HEREDITY  AXD   MORALS. 

treatment,  but  fortunately  its  results  are  not  usually  grave. 
It  is  very  frequently  associated  witli  gonorrlioeal  rheuma- 
tism, and  as  a  rule  reciu's  with  each  fresh  infection.  Ordi- 
narily both  eyes  are  involved,  and  the  inflammation  chiefly 
afi'ects  the  fibrous  tissues  of  the  eye,  the  sclerotic  and  the 
iris. 

Gojwrrhoeal  conjunct ivitis  is  produced  primarily  by  direct 
contagion,  or  the  local  deposition  of  gonorrhoeal  pus  upon 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  eye.  Ordinarily  one  eye  is 
involved,  though  of  coiu'se  this  is  fortuitous.  As  this  con- 
dition is  purely  an  accident,  resulting  from  contamination 
by  the  fingers,  or  towels,  or  otherwise,  it  may  be  acquired 
readily  by  a  health}'  person  from  an  infected  one  by  inocu- 
lation. The  symptoms  are  among  the  most  urgent  and 
grave  of  all  the  emergencies  which  arise  in  medical  prac- 
tice, for  every  hour's  delay  favors  a  rapid  destruction  of 
the  tissues  involved.  Without  the  most  energetic  treat- 
ment the  free  discharge  of  pus  is  extremely  liable  to  inocu- 
late the  other  eye,  and  rapidly  to  ulcerate  the  cornea,  so 
that  the  contents  of  the  globe,  or  eyeball,  may  pour  out, 
and  thus  the  case  terminates  in  total  blindness.  Every 
gonorrhoeal  patient  is  therefore  the  generator  of  a  most 
virulent  poison,  one  drop  of  which  carried  to  his  eye  would, 
within  the  space  of  two  or  three  days,  cause  complete  blind- 
ness, unless  active  treatment  were  at  once  instituted.  And, 
furthermore,  so  "  unclean"  and  positively  dangerous  to  the 
community  is  such  an  individual,  that  he  should  be  quar- 
antined ;  for  but  few  such  men  can  be  relied  upon  to  exer- 
cise care  in  the  use  of  towels,  commodes,  bathtubs,  etc., 
which  others  must  use. 

Gonorrlioeal  Affections  of  the  Shin. — Instances  of  cutane- 
ous eruj)tions  are  rare,  and  on  that  account  interesting. 
Having  observed  that  the  gonococci  may  enter  the  blood- 
stream and  thus  invade  the  whole  system,  it  is  not,  after 
all,  difficult  to  understand  that  the  minute  capillaries  of 
the  skin  may  show  their  presence  by  eruptions. 


GONORRHCEA.  393 

A  number  of  sucK  cases  have  been  reported,  tliose  only 
being  accepted  in  whicli  gonococci  were  deraonstrated  in 
the  pus  from  the  eruptions. 

GONORRHCEA  IN  THE   InPANT. 

An  infant  or  child  of  either  sex  can  as  readily  be  infected 
as  an  adult  if  gonococci  are  inoculated  on  anj-  of  its  mucous 
membranes,  e.g.,  the  sexual  organs,  eyes,  mouth,  nose,  rec- 
tum, etc.  In  certain  instances  wicked  nurses  have  taken 
the  grossest  liberties  with  hel})less  children  and  contami- 
nated them  with  a  secret  disease,  whose  true  nature  very 
naturally  might  be  unsuspected  by  either  parents  or  phy- 
sician. 

But  these  rare  cases  are  of  minor  importance  in  compari- 
son with  the  terrible  and  frequent  gonorrrhoeal  infection 
of  infants'  eyes.  This  inoculation  of  the  new-born  infant 
usuallj'  occurs  during  its  birth  through  the  infected  maternal 
passages,  and  is  called  "ophthalmia  neonatorum." 

A  German  accoucheur,  Professor  Crede,  of  Dresden,  won 
for  himself  immortal  renown  by  giving  to  the  profession,  in 
the  early  eighties,  a  method  of  treatment  which  rendered 
it  possible  almost  to  eliminate  the  terrors  of  this  fearful 
affection  in  new-born  babes.  In  his  obstetrical  wards  he 
found  that  the  infants'  eyes  could  almost  invariably  be 
saved  from  contamination  if,  immediately  after  birth,  a 
solution  of  nitrate  of  silver,  two  grains  to  ten  grains  to  the 
ounce,  were  instilled  into  both  eyes,  whether  there  appeared 
any  need  of  it  or  not.  At  the  present  time  these  preventive 
instillations  are  uniformly  employed  in  every  maternity 
hospital  in  the  civilized  world,  and  it  is  considered  a  great 
reproach  to  the  medical  attendants  and  nurses  if  a  single 
case  of  ocular  infection  occur.  In  Professor  Saenger's  clinic 
in  Leipsic,  in  1879,  forty  per  cent  of  the  infants  born  of 
gonorrhoea!  mothers  were  affected  with  ophthalmia  neona- 
torum.    But  after  Crede 's  method  was  instituted,  the  pro- 


394  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

portion  of  infectioD  was  reduced  to  two  per  thousand. 
Midwives  preside  over  the  births  of  a  vast  number  of  chil- 
dren, and  the  state  is  unfortunately  too  lax  in  granting  them 
licenses.  As  a  result  there  is  yet  a  great  amount  of  blind- 
ness from  this  cause,  although  the  simple  means  of  pre- 
venting it  are  well  recognized. 

"  If  justification  were  needed  for  the  discussion  of  this 
matter,  it  would  be  found  in  the  statistics  of  the  German 
Empire  for  1894.  These  show  that  of  the  women  who  died 
of  uterine  or  ovarian  diseases,  eighty  per  cent  were  killed 
by  gonorrhoea.  They  further  show  that  of  children  who 
became  hopelessly  blind,  after  having  been  born  with 
healthy  eyes,  eighty  i^er  cent  went  into  a  life  of  darkness 
from  gonorrhoea. "  ' 

The  blessings  of  sight  are  thus  denied  to  many  a  poor 
child  through  the  careless  ajjathy  of  its  natural  protectors. 

Note. — It  is  possible  that  the  non-professional  reader  may  receive 
the  impression  that  gonorrhoea  always  causes  the  results  described 
in  this  chapter.     These  occur  in  but  a  part  of  the  cases. 

By  no  means  every  man  who  has  had  gonorrhoea  infects  his  wife 
in  later  years.  The  idea  that  this  must  occur  would  cause  needless 
suffering  to  many  men.  It  certainly  is  not  the  author's  intention 
to  convey  such  an  impression. 

But  the  danger  is  very  real  and  very  great — and  it  is  surely  not 
going  too  far  to  insist  that  no  man  who  has  ever  had  the  disease  has 
a  right  to  marry  until  assured  after  examination  by  a  competent 
expert  that  he  may  safely  do  so. — Ed. 

'  F.  C.  Valentine,  M.  D.  :  "  The  Protection  of  the  Innocent  from 
Gonorrhoea."     The  Medical  Fortnightly,  October  15,  1896. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Chancroid. 

The  cliancroid  is  a  local  and  highly  contagious  ulcer, 
very  destructive  in  its  course  and  usually  followed  by  en- 
largement and  suppuration  of  the  lymphatic  glands  in 
immediate  anatomical  relationship  with  it.  As  a  rule  it  is 
situated  on  the  genital  organs,  though  it  may  be  reproduced 
by  inoculation  on  any  part  of  the  body. 

The  chancroid  is  otherwise  called  the  "  soft  chancre"  in 
contradistinction  to  the  "  hard  chancre"  of  syphilis.  It  is 
entirely  a  local  affection,  never  producing  constitutional 
after-effects  and  not  being  transmissible  to  posterity.  It 
does  not  usually  endanger  the  patient's  life,  though  it  may 
terminate  fatallj^  from  a  concomitant  erysipelas;  or  by 
deeply  eroding  the  tissues  it  may  cause  a  serious  stricture. 
At  the  best  it  leaves  compromising  scars  behind,  and  iu 
severe  cases  it  sometimes  causes  such  extensive  destruction 
of  tissue  that  amputation  of  the  penis  may  become  neces- 
sary. 

The  pus  from  the  primary  sore,  if  inoculated  on  abraded 
surfaces,  is  callable  of  infecting  the  patient  himself  in  a 
number  of  places,  while  the  primary  sore  of  syphilis  has 
not  this  characteristic. 

One  attack  does  not  confer  immunity,  and  an  individual 
may  have  chancroids  time  and  time  again.  Furthermore, 
the  pus  from  a  chancroid,  in  contradistinction  to  the  virus 
of  syphilis,  is  readily  transmissible  to  animals. 

These  contrasts  with  syphilis  are  made  because  the  two 
diseases  were  confused  and  erroneously  interpreted  until 
recent  times. 


396  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

Cause. — It  is  now  accepted  by  most  authorities  tliat 
chancroid  is  invariabl}^  jjroduced  by  the  inoculation  of  virus 
from  another  chancroid.  Some  authorities  believe  that  the 
chancroidal  ulcer  is  not  due  to  a  distinct  virus, '  but  that  it 
is  a  hybrid  and  heterogeneous  disease ;  that  it  may  origi- 
nate de  novo  from  local  uncleanliness,  and  that  it  may  be 
caused  by  inoculation  of  various  kinds  of  pus-producing 
microbes — staphylococci,  streptococci,  etc. — on  excoriated 
or  abraded  surfaces. 

On  the  other  hand  Ducrej',  Welander,  Krefting  and 
others'"  maintain  that  there  is  a  definite  micro-organism, 
or  bacillus,  which  has  been  satisfactorily  demonstrated  to 
be  the  specific  cause.  The  clinical  history,  after  experi- 
mental inoculations  with  chancroidal  pus,  argues  strongly 
in  favor  of  its  being  a  distinct  lesion  and  not  a  hybrid  dis- 
ease. 

In  almost  all  cases  it  is  acquired  during  sexual  inter- 
course, and  is  therefore  commonlj'  situated  on  the  genitalia. 
But  it  may  as  readily  be  inoculated  extra-genitally  when- 
ever the  virus  is  api)lied  to  an  abrasion,  e.g.,  on  the  lips, 
nose,  eyes,  thighs,  abdomen,  or  any  cutaneous  or  mucous 
surface.  Surgeons  are  sometimes  accidentally  inoculated 
on  the  fingers,  and  the  virus  may  be  carried  on  towels, 
drinking-cups,  utensils  and  instruments  of  all  sorts. 

3Iode  of  Onset. — There  is  no  period  of  incubation,  but 
the  ulcer  is  quickly  developed  after  the  deposit  of  the  mi- 
crobes on  the  abraded  spot,  usualh-  on  the  head  of  the 
penis  and  on  the  prepuce.  It  may  appear  in  twentj-four 
hours,  or  may  not  be  noticed  by  a  careless  patient  for  a 
week  or  so.  The  chancroidal  ulcer,  differing  from  that  of 
syphilis,  is  soft,  and  presents  sharply-defined  edges  in  a 
characteristic  manner,  as  though  the  tissues  had  been  cut 
out  with  a  punch. 

'  Fide  Taylor:  "Venereal  Diseases,"  p.  481,  1895. 
^Vide  White  and  Martin:   " Genito-Urinary  and  Venereal  Dis- 
eases," p.  274,  1897. 


CHANCROID.  397 

Frequency. — It  is  more  frequent  in  syphilitic  imtients 
because  that  disease  predisposes  to  it.  Therefore  it  is 
specially  common  among  the  lower-class  prostitutes,  and 
among  men  who  are  ignorant  and  careless  about  all  matters 
relating  to  sexual  affairs.  In  many  prostitutes  it  remains 
indolent  and  lingers  for  years. 

Comj)lications. — Sometimes  there  is  gangrene  and  con- 
siderable loss  of  tissue,  resulting  in  great  deformity.  Some- 
times the  f)enis  is  destroyed,  or  the  testicles  may  be  laid 
bare  b}^  destruction  of  the  scrotum.  These  severe  cases, 
however,  are  seldom  seen  except  in  patients  who  are  much 
debilitated  by  syphilis,  or  by  other  profoundly  depressing 
diseases,  such  as  diabetes,  tuberculosis,  diseases  of  kidneys, 
liver,  etc.  This  gangrenous  form  sometimes  lasts  for  years 
without  healing. 

The  most  frequent  complication  is  a  bubo,  or  glandular 
swelling.  Supposing  the  sore  to  be  on  the  penis,  the 
poison  is  conveyed  by  the  lymphatic  vessels  to  the  nearest 
group  of  glands,  which  are  situated  in  the  groins.  Usually 
only  a  single  gland  in  one  groin  is  involved,  though  the 
whole  packet  of  glands  in  both  groins  may  become  indu- 
rated and  eventually  break  down   into  pus. 

No  micrococci  are  found  in  these  buboes,  but  they  are 
caused  by  toxins,  or  chemical  irritants,  produced  by  the 
organisms  at  the  site  of  the  lesion  on  the  penis. 

The  iwn  of  buboes  is  sometimes  intense,  and  the  exten- 
sive suppuration,  with  escape  of  the  pus  into  the  surround- 
ing tissues,  often  leaves  deforming  cicatrices  from  the  pro- 
longation of  the  healing  process. 

Treatment. — Many  cases  heal  spontaneouslj^  but  surgical 
dressing  or  operation  is  usualh^  necessary.  It  is  very  gen- 
erally advisable  to  excise  the  enlarged  gland,  or  bubo,  while 
in  other  cases  circumcision  is  indicated.  In  the  severest 
cases  it  may  become  necessary  to  amputate  the  penis  or  to 
castrate  the  patient  on  account  of  the  extensive  destruction 
of  the  scrotum. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Syphilis.  ' 

Historical. — No  dogmatic  expression  is  possible  as  to  the 
origin  and  antiquity  of  syphilis.  Certain  facts  are  defi- 
nitely known,  while  other  mere  conjectures  persuade  some 
and  repel  others.  Dr.  F.  Buret  ^  has  written  a  scholarly 
work  purporting  to  prove  that  it  was  known  more  than  five 
thousand  years  ago  among  the  Asiatics,  the  Romans,  the 
Greeks  and  the  Egyptians.  Many  regard  his  demonstra- 
tion as  conclusive. 

Captain  Dabray'  refers  to  the  works  of  Hoan-ty,  written 
2637  B.C.,  who  graphically  describes  what  would  fairly 
seem  to  be  typical  cases  of  syphilis.  In  short,  there  is  a 
very  large  amount  of  literature  on  the  history  of  this  dis- 
ease, but  little  likelihood  of  the  question  of  its  origin  ever 
being  positively  settled. 

Nothing  however  is  better  known  historically  than  that 
syphilis  was  rampant  as  an  epidemic  and  pandemic  in 
Europe  almost  coincidently  with  the  discovery  of  the  New 
World  by  Columbus. 

'  For  a  fuller  description  of  this  enormous  subject,  and  for  illus- 
trations, all  of  which  are  repulsive  in  the  extreme,  consult  the  vari- 
ous text-books  and  atlases  on  venereal  diseases.  The  horrors  of 
syphilis  being  in  a  measure  known  to  every  mature  person,  it  is 
not  deemed  necessary  to  give  the  same  space  to  its  consideration  as 
to  that  of  its  congener,  gonorrhoea,  which  is,  as  we  have  pointed 
out,  in  many  respects  more  thankless  to  treat  and  more  terrible  in  its 
results  than  even  syphilis. 

'"Syphilis  in  the  Middle  Ages  and  in  Modem  Times,"  translated 
by  Ohman-Dumesnil,  3  vols. 

»"La  Medecine  chez  les  Chinois,"  1863. 


400  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

"The  epidemic  of  syphilis  which  stands  out  so  boldly  in 
medical  history  occurred  about  the  time  (the  latter  part  of 
the  year  1494)  when  Charles  VIII.,  king  of  France,  with  a 
large  army,  invaded  Italj'  with  the  intent  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  which  he  claimed  by  right 
of  inheritance.  Charles  left  Rome  on  his  way  to  Naples 
January  28,  and  reached  the  latter  city  Februarj^  21, 
1495.  After  a  time  the  Neapolitans  revolted  against  the 
authority  of  Charles,  and,  aided  by  a  Spanish  army  under 
the  command  of  Gonsalvo  of  Cordova,  they  endeavored  to 
drive  the  French  out  of  Italy.  There  were  then  three 
armies  encamped  near  Naples,  and  about  this  time  the 
fearful  epidemic  broke  out.  It  is  not  definitely  established 
that  the  disease  first  appeared  among  the  troops,  but  thej' 
certainly  were  attacked,  and  were  one  means  of  conveying 
the  disease  into  other  countries.  There  is  ample  evidence 
to  prove  that  wdthin  a  few  years  the  disease  had  spread 
over  the  greater  part  of  Europe.  Thus  we  find  that  syphi- 
lis was  by  the  Neapolitans  called  the  morbus  Gallicus,  by 
the  French  mal  de  Naples,  and  w^as  also  called  the  Polish, 
Spanish,  Turkish,  and  Christian  disease.  It  was  also 
named  after  some  saints,  and  was  called  the  disease  of  the 
holy  man  Job,  of  St.  Leonard,  St.  Clement,  St.  Mevius, 
and  St.  Roche.  It  was  not  known  as  the  American  disease 
until  twenty-  years  after  the  return  of  Columbus  from  his 
first  trip." ' 

We  may  conclude  from  historical  readings  that  there  is 
great  probability  that  syphilis  existed  in  remote  antiquity, 
and  that  wdth  the  widespread  libertinism  in  Europe  at  the 
latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  it  redeveloped  in  France, 
Italy  and  Spain  with  hitherto  unknown  virulence,  and  that 
it  was  subsequently  carried  wherever  Europeans  travelled 
until  it  has  come  to  be  enormously  j^revalent  in  modern 
times,  even  infecting  many  aboriginal  tribes. 

Syphilis  is  especially  malignant  when  occurring  in  a 
•  Taylor  :  "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  20. 


SYPHILIS.  401 

community  for  the  first  time — in  the  great  historical  Euro- 
pean outbreak  whole  families  were  destroyed  and  the  most 
revolting  deformities  and  loathsome  eruptions  were  com- 
mon. Similar  malignity  has  been  shown  by  recent  out- 
breaks among  the  savage  tribes  of  this  continent,  and  in 
other  localities,  for  civilized  races  are  now  mildh'  protected 
by  the  syphilis  which  was  worked  out  with  special  fury  on 
their  ancestors. 

Nature  of  Syphilis. Syphilis  is  a  chronic,  infectious  and 
inoculable  disease,  transmissible  to  posterity.  It  begins 
with  a  local  "  sore,"  or  "  chancre,"  called  the  "  initial  lesion," 
which  is  the  result  of  the  inoculation  from  another  syphi- 
litic individual  of  a  special  and  peculiar  virus,  the  minutest 
portion  of  which  is  sufficient  to  communicate  the  disease. 
In  many  respects  syphilis  resembles  the  exanthematous 
fevers  (small-pox,  scarlet  fever,  measles,  etc.),  having  a 
period  of  incubation,  invasion,  eruption,  persistence,  de- 
cline and  convalescence.  Like  them  it  is  attended  with 
l>ractical  immunity  from  a  second  attack,  at  least  for  long 
periods  of  time,  though  second  attacks  of  syphilis  are 
almost  as  well  authenticated  as  second  attacks  of  the  con- 
tagious fevers. 

Unlike  them,  however,  in  untreated  cases  the  period 
corresponding  to  convalescence  is  prolonged  for  the  re- 
mainder of  the  patient's  life,  during  which  time  grave  in- 
juries are  occurring  in  various  parts  of  the  bod}'. 

In  some  respects  it  also  resembles  leprosy  and  tubercu- 
losis, producing  a  proliferation  of  new  and  foreign  cells  in 
the  tissues,  and  being  protracted  and  progressive  in  its 
nature.  In  its  later  manifestations  sj'philis  is  remarkable 
in  simulating  almost  every  other  disease  without  exactly 
resembling  any  of  them.  This  is  not  difficult  to  under- 
stand when  we  consider  that  the  infection  eventually 
invades  every  organ  and  tissue  in  the  body,  producing 
functional  and  organic  changes  in  them  which  may  cause 

disorders  of  almost  any  kind. 
26 


402  HEREDITY   AND  MORALS. 

This  disease  is  remarkably  common  among  tlie  vicious, 
rich  and  poor  alike ;  and  by  them  it  is  often  transmitted  to 
the  innocent  members  of  the  family  circle. 

Cause. — Though  absolute  proof  is  still  wanting,  it  is  now 
accepted  that  the  disease  is  almost  certainly  associated  with 
the  growth  of  a  micro-organism,  or  bacterium,  of  vegetable 
origin.  In  1884,  Lustgarten,  of  Vienna,  announced  the  dis- 
covery of  a  bacillus  which  he  believed  to  be  the  cause  of 
syphilis ;  and  lately  there  has  been  much  confirmative  evi- 
dence, especially  from  Doutrelepont  and  Klemperer,  who 
have  devised  special  stains  for  differentiating  the  bacillus. 
No  cultivations  of  these  organisms  having  been  made  out- 
side the  human  body — the  inoculation  of  monkeys  by  Klebs 
not  being  as  yet  satisfactory — we  must  at  present  provi- 
sionally accept  this  bacillus  of  Lustgarten,  believing  that 
trustworthy  details  of  i)roof  will  shoi"tly  come.  A  minute 
portion  of  the  virus  or  of  the  blood  of  a  syphilitic  being 
inoculated  into  another  individual,  through  an  abrasion 
however  small,  or  by  absorption  through  a  mucous  surface, 
the  microbes  rapidly  multiph*  until  a  "  colony"  is  locally 
developed.  A  local  ulcer  is  then  produced  in  which  the 
organisms  have  elaborated  certain  i^oisonous  chemical  sub- 
stances called  toxins,  or  ptomains,  or  virus.  This  virus 
is  then  diffused  through  the  whole  system  and  the  char- 
acteristic phenomena  of  syphilis  aj^pear,  such  as  fever,  de- 
bility, headaches,  a  distinctive  rash,  sore  throat,  falling 
out  of  the  hair,  and  the  eventual  prodiiction  of  a  peculiar 
growth  of  cells — called  "granulation  tissue" — which  pro- 
duce most  serious  effects. 

Varieties  of  Sypliilis. — 1.  The  acquired  form,  beginning 
with  a  primary  sore,  or  "hard  chancre,"  as  the  result  of 
inoculation,  and  followed  by  constitutional  symptoms. 

2.  Hereditary,  or  prenatal  syphilis,  in  which  one  or  both 
parents  are  actively  syphilitic  at  the  time  of  conception  of 
the  embryo.  In  this  form  there  is  no  primary  sore,  but  a 
general  systemic  infection  acquired  in  utero. 


SYPHILIS.  403 

At  present  we  shall  consider  the  first  form. 

Modes  of  Acquiring  Syphilis. — Syphilis  is  almost  always 
derived  by  impure  sexual  intercourse,  and  is  hence  called  a 
venereal  disease,  although  a  considerable  proportion  of 
cases  are  acquired  unconsciously  and  innocenth-  and  with- 
out an  impure  history.  The  cases  of  extra-genital  syphilis, 
i.e.,  those  which  are  not  associated  with  lasciviousness,  are 
classified  as  "unmerited  syphilis,"  or  "syphilis  of  the  in- 
nocent" {''syphilis  insontium"). 

A  syphilitic  person  is  a  menace  to  the  community  in 
which  he  lives,  and  in  strict  justice  he  should  be  quaran- 
tined until  his  disease  has  passed  beyond  the  stage  wherein 
he  is  capable  of  contaminating  others.  The  secretion  from 
his  primary  sore  is  liighlj'  virulent,  as  are  those  from  the 
mucous  patches  which  appear  in  his  mouth  and  on  his  lips, 
anus  and  genitalia.  For  at  least  two  to  three  years  after 
infection,  even  under  treatment,  his  blood  and  the  debris 
from  any  pustule,  pimple,  or  ulcer  are  infectious,  and  he 
renders  more  or  less  unsafe  every  article  which  he  touches. 
This  has  been  proved  by  experimental  inoculations.  It 
is  of  course  wrong  to  permit  such  a  person  to  send  his 
clothing  to  the  public  laundry,  or  to  jeopardize  others  in 
innumerable  other  ways;  and  the  time  may  come  when 
such  will  be  as  promptly  quarantined  as  are  the  victims 
of  small-pox. 

The  virus  from  a  patient  who  is  infected  with  syphilis — 
"the  big-pox" — can  inoculate  another  person  through  a 
crack  or  abrasion  in  the  skin  too  small  to  be  noticed,  or 
even  through  an  intact  mucous  membrane.  "  My  studies 
and  observations  have  convinced  me  that  in  the  majority  of 
cases  in  which  the  treatment  has  been  ample  and  well  di- 
rected a  cure  is  obtained  in  two  or  three  years,  and  then, 
of  course,  the  subject  does  not  give  forth  infectious  secre- 
tions. "  '  But  until  the  expiration  of  this  time  the  syphilitic 
is  a  dangerous  element  in  society,  and  it  cannot  be  said 
'  Taylor  :  "  Venereal  Diseases, "  p.  536. 


404  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

that  "  ample  and  well-directed  treatment"  is  followed  in  a 
majority  of  cases. 

The  normal  secretions  of  a  syphilitic,  i.e.,  the  saliva, 
tears,  sweat,  urine,  semen  and  milk,  are  not  in  themselves 
contagious;  but  if  one  microscopically  minute  blood-cor- 
puscle, or  a  mere  particle  of  tissue-detritus  exude  with  any 
of  these  secretions  into  an  abrasion  on  another  individual, 
infection  will  follow.  Thus,  since  sore  patches  in  the 
mouth  and  about  the  genitals  and  on  the  skin  surfaces  are 
common,  it  is  unsafe,  from  a  practical  standpoint,  to  be  ex- 
posed even  to  the  normal  secretions  of  an  infected  person. 
In  order  to  acquire  syphilis  there  must  be  contamination 
with  the  virus  from  another  infected  person  in  some  way. 
This  ma  J'  be  (a)  by  direct,  or  immediate  contact; — (&)  by 
indirect,  or  mediate  contact. 

Infcctio)i  Inj  Direct  Contact. — In  the  majoritj^  of  in- 
stances sj^philis  is  both  acquired  and  given  during  the 
im])ure  sexual  act.  By  some  other  beastly  practices  it  is 
also  spread,  and  manj^  an  individual,  thinking  merely  to 
pla}^  with  prostitutes  without  actual  fornication,  has  been 
inoculated.  Thus,  the  lascivious  kisses  of  syphilitic  pros- 
titutes suffering  with  mucous  patches  in  their  mouths,  have 
often  caused  chancres  on  the  lips.  But  aside  from  venereal 
practices  the  disease  may  be  acquired  in  various  other  ways 
by  direct  contact.  Doctors  and  dentists  are  sometimes 
inoculated  ui:)on  their  fingers  in  oj^erations  upon  sj^Dhilitic 
patients.  It  has  been  imj^arted  b}^  careless  physicians  in 
the  operation  of  vaccination,  and  not  infrequently  bj-  pro- 
fessional tattooers  who  moisten  the  needles  and  pigment 
with  their  saliva.  The  kisses  of  syphilitic  men  have  often 
inoculated  wives  and  pure  young  children,  and  in  numerous 
other  ways  it  may  be  directly  communicated. 

Infection  hy  Indirect  or  Mediate  Contact.— Thvou^  the 
intervention  of  innumerable  articles  of  daily  use  syphilis  has 
often  been  communicated  to  innocent  persons.      Taylor ' 

^Op.  cit.,  p.  539. 


SYPHILIS.  405 

gives  tlie  following  list  of  articles  which  have  been  the 
agents  of  infection :  "  Cigars,  cigar-  and  cigarette-holders, 
pipes,  tooth-brushes,  tooth-powders,  drinking-utensils, 
knives,  forks,  spoons,  razors,  towels,  sponges,  i^illows, 
masks,  gloves,  wash-rags,  linen  thread,  silk  thread,  pins, 
needles,  children's  toys,  nursing-bottles,  rubber  tubes, 
babies'  rubber  rings,  trousers,  women's  drawers,  bandages, 
surgical  and  cupping  instruments,  manicure  instruments, 
syringes,  scarifiers,  dental  instruments  and  appliances, 
caustic-holders,  blowj)ipes,  paper-cutters,  lead-pencils, 
speaking-trumpets,  musical  instruments,  fish-horns,  whis- 
tles, the  mouth-piece  of  the  telej^hone,  chewing-rjum,  and 
even  pastilles  and  candy." 

Laundresses  have  been  inoculated  by  washing  the 
clothes  of  syphilitics;  chancres  have  been  acquired  on  the 
knuckles  by  striking  the  teeth  of  diseased  men  in  fights ; 
and  in  fact  there  is  no  limit  to  the  articles  which  may  be 
the  vehicles  of  infection.  Chancres  of  the  lip  have  been 
acquired  from  the  communion-cup  by  infection  with  the 
virus  which  syphilitics  have  smeared  on  the  rim  from  the 
mucous  patches  in  their  mouths.  The  neglect  to  provide 
individual  communion-cui^s  is  inexcusable — for  even  though 
a  syphilitic  man  might  not  be  apt  to  attend  this  solemn 
service,  yet  not  a  few  religious  wives  have  been  innocently 
infected  by  their  husbands,  without,  of  course,  being  in- 
formed, and  such  menace  all  who  use  the  cup  after  them. 
The  mere  reflection  that  syphilis  and  tuberculosis  are  lia- 
ble to  be  transmitted  in  this  way  should  promptly  lead  all 
to  insist  on  the  same  etiquette  and  decency  being  observed 
in  this  sacred  rite  as  we  demand  even  in  the  home  circle,  of 
having  a  separate  cup  for  each  individual. 

So  also  the  custom  of  making  witnesses  kiss  the  Bible 
when  oaths  are  administered  is  repulsive,  for  syphilitic 
virus  is  readily  implanted  on  it  from  the  mucous  patches 
in  the  mouths  of  infected  persons. 

Mode  of  (}>?se^.— Syphilis  invariably  begins  with  a  "  sore," 


406  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

whicli  is  called  the  "initial  lesion,"  or  "chancre";  it  is 
called  the  "hard,"  or  "Hunterian  chancre,"  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  "  soft  sore"  of  chancroid.  Three  distinct  stages 
are  recognized — the  primary,  secondary-  and  tertiary. 

The  Pyirnarij  Stage. — At  the  date  of  the  infecting  contact, 
whether  by  coitus  or  otherwise,  some  of  the  virus  is  im- 
planted at  the  site  where  the  chancre  is  to  develop — gen- 
itally  or  extra-genitally.  Then  for  a  certain  period,  called 
the  stage  of  incubation,  nothing  whatever  betrays  the  dis- 
ease. This  incubation  period  lasts  from  ten  to  seventy 
days,  but,  as  a  rule,  in  the  neighborhood  of  twenty-one 
days,  the  extreme  limits  of  rajiid  or  tardy  development 
being  unusual.  Then  a  sore  is  noticed  which  at  first  is  not 
indurated,  but  in  ten  or  fourteen  days  more  it  displays  the 
typical  signs  of  the  true  hard  chancre.  Now  comes  a  pe- 
riod of  repose,  lasting  usually  for  from  forty  to  ninety 
days,  during  which  interval  the  patient  is  merely  incon- 
venienced by  the  local  sore. 

77^3  Secondary  Stage.  — After  this  period  of  seeming  qui- 
escence comes  the  secondary  period,  or  period  of  constitu- 
tional invasion,  when  the  virus  seems  to  explode,  as  it 
were.  The  i)atient  now  suffers  with  languor,  headaches, 
shooting  pains  in  the  limbs,  trunk  and  head,  falling  out 
of  the  hair,  sore  throat,  erui^tions  on  the  skin  and  mucous 
membranes,  enlargement  of  the  lymphatic  glands  through- 
out the  whole  system,  and  peculiar  milk-white  patches  upon 
the  mucous  membranes  of  the  mouth  and  anus.  With  all 
this  there  is  fever,  neuralgia  and  considerable  suffering. 
This  condition  lasts  for  one  or  two  j-ears,  during  which 
time  the  eruptions,  though  extremely  repulsive,  are  chiefly 
superficial  and  tolerably  mild  iu  their  effect  on  the  general 
health. 

Until  the  characteristic  signs  of  the  secondary  stage 
have  appeared,  no  anti-syphilitic  treatment  whatever  is 
given  by  the  physician ;  otherwise  the  diagnosis  would  be 
obscure  and  irreparable  harm  might  follow. 


SYPHILIS.  407 

The  tertiary  stage  usually  comes  on,  in  untreated  cases, 
at  the  expiration  of  two  years.  In  this  stage  the  lesions 
are  mostly  found  in  the  deeper  parts  of  the  body,  causing 
caries  of  the  bones  and  other  severe  complications  in  the 
central  nervous  system  and  in  any  or  all  of  the  vital  organs. 
It  represents  the  gravest  aspect  of  the  disease,  and  may 
continue  to  cause  ominous  manifestations  for  the  remainder 
of  life.  Sj'philis  being  often  compared  with  the  exanthe- 
matous  fevers,  this  tertiary  stage  corresponds  with  the 
period  of  convalescence  in  them ;  but  in  this  disease  it  will 
be  noticed  that  convalescence  is  jn-olonged  for  a  lifetime  if 
the  malady  be  allowed  to  w^ork  out  its  natural  course  un- 
modified hj  treatment. 

The  division  between  these  three  periods  in  not  invari- 
ably sharply  defined,  and  sometimes  they  coexist. 

Pathology,  or  a  Consideration  of  the  Chai^aderistic  Prog- 
ress of  the  Disease. — The  virus  ha\dng  been  elaborated  by 
the  "colony"  of  bacteria  at  the  site  of  the  "initial  lesion," 
it  is  then  absorbed  and  disseminated  throughout  the  entire 
system,  producing  certain  deleterious  effects  of  a  proteaD, 
or  exceedingl}'  variable  nature.  Transformations  then  fol- 
low in  the  body  which  cause  the  disease  to  be  classified 
along  with  lei)rosy,  tuberculosis,  actinomycosis,  etc. — the 
"infective  granulomata. " 

The  peculiar  effect  of  the  poison  is  to  produce  certain 
cells  which,  when  aggregated,  result  in  the  formation  of 
what  is  called  "granulation  tissue,"  "connective  tissue,"  or 
tissue  akin  to  "proud-flesh"  from  w^hich  scars  are  gen- 
erated. When  these  deposits  of  granulation  tissue — which 
may  appear  in  any  part  of  the  body — are  young,  they  are 
vascular  and  proliferative;  but  soon  the  blood-vessels  in 
them  become  fewer,  their  nourishment  is  cut  off,  and  they 
necrose,  or  die  at  their  centres,  eventually  becoming  cica- 
trized and  causing  profound  nutritive  changes  in  the  vari- 
ous normal  structures  of  the  body. 

In  the  secondary,  and  es^Decially  in  the  tertiary  stages  of 


408  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

sypliilis,  i.e.,  when  the  process  lias  become  constitutional, 
this  proliferation  of  graunlatiou-tissue  is  especially  active, 
involving  the  blood-vessels  and  lymphatics  and  forming 
new  growths,  called  "gnmmata,"  which  have  a  special 
predilection  for  invading  the  central  nervous  system  and 
the  vital  organs.  The  earliest  change  produced  by  consti- 
tutional sypJiilis  is  an  alteration  in  the  blood  whereby  tho 
red  blood-corpuscles  are  much  diminished  in  number  and 
impaired  in  nutritive  qualities,  so  that  marked  ansemia 
results.  The  virus  next  involves  the  lymphatic  system, 
producing  enlargements  in  all  the  superficial  and  deep 
lymi:>hatic  glands,  those  in  the  neck  and  on  the  inner  sur- 
faces of  the  elbows  being  specially  jn'ominent  on  account  of 
their  readily  accessible  positions. 

Along  v.ith  this  glandular  enlargement  there  always  is 
fever,  usually  slightly  marked  (102''-103  F.),  but  some- 
times very  high  (103 ^-105 "  F.\  With  the  fever  there  are 
loss  of  appetite,  listlessness,  dein'ession  of  spirits,  severe 
neuralgias,  intense  headache,  great  tenderness  and  pain  in 
the  bones,  of  a  "bone-breaking"  character,  pains  in  the 
muscles  and  joints,  and  sometimes  hysteria,  insomnia, 
hallucinations,  delusions,  delirium,  mania  and  various 
morbid  impulses  and  aberrations  of  mind. 

Then  come  the  characteristic  syx)hilitic  eruptions  of  the 
skin  and  mucous  membranes,  of  almost  endless  variety. 
Almost  invariably  there  is  a  compromising  falling  out  of 
the  hair,  wliich  may  result  in  slight  or  complete  baldness, 
and  various  "syphilides,"  or  granulation-tissue  deposits, 
develop  over  the  body,  showing  a  characteristic  coppery 
color  and  a  tendency  to  form  scales.  Along  with  all  these 
symptoms,  which  have  been  merely  touched  upon,  there 
a,re  often  grave  manifestations  involving  the  eyes,  brain  and 
spinal  cord,  the  osseous  system,  the  testicles,  liver,  spleen, 
pancreas,  kidneys,  and  all  the  other  organs  and  structures 
of  the  body.  Let  us  here  borrow  the  words  of  the  most 
eminent  modern  syphilographer,  Fouruier,  who  is  quoted 


SYPHILIS.  409 

by  Taylor  in  liis  text-book  '  as  follows  (the  parentbeses  are 
the  author's) : 

"  Is  it  or  is  it  not  necessary  to  treat  a  syphilitic  patient? 
Is  it  or  is  it  not  beneficial  that  he  should  be  treated?  In 
order  to  answer  a  proposition  thus  stated,  let  us  consider 
what  risks  sach  a  patient  runs,  by  stating  his  condition 
clearly.  To  what  dangers,  in  fact,  is  he  exposed?  Let  us 
set  forth  his  pathological  balance-sheet,  if  I  may  speak 
thus — a  balance-sheet  which,  if  not  certain  and  inevitable, 
is  at  least  probable  and  i)ossible.  What  can  such  a  i)atient 
have?  What  lesions  is  he  liable  to  develop  some  day  or 
other?  And  these  lesions,  are  they  of  such  a  character 
that  it  will  be  urgent  or  advantageous  that  they  should  be 
treated?  What  he  can  have  are  at  first  lesions  without  any 
real  gravity,  but  which  are  at  least  ver\'  disagreeable  to 
some,  particularly  if  they  are  visible :  thus  he  may  have 
cutaneous  syphilides  of  various  forms,  very  annoying 
syphilides  of  the  mucous  membranes,  engorgements  of  the 
ganglia,  alopecia  (falling  out  of  hair),  and  onyxis  (distor- 
tions of  the  nails).  In  the  second  place,  there  are  more 
serious  lesions,  from  the  fact  that  some  of  them  are  very 
painful :  they  are  angina,  cephalalgia  (head  pains),  various 
pains  with  nocturnal  exacerbations,  insomnia,  myalgia 
(muscular  pains),  pain  in  the  joints,  inflammation  of  ten- 
dons, periostitis,  etc.  Should  not  the  possible  anticipation 
of  such  troubles  justify  the  intervention  of  treatment?  But 
we  have  really  a  third  order  of  lesions,  which  are  much  more 
serious  and  which  may  involve  and  comi^romise  important 
organs.  Only  to  cite  the  most  common  of  this  group,  we 
shall  find  affections  of  the  eye,  such  as  iritis,  choroiditis, 
and  retinitis,  which  are  capable  of  impairing  or  even  ex- 
tinguishing vision ;  sarcocele,  which  may  induce  disorgani- 
zation and  atrophy  of  one  or  both  testicles  and  thus  produce 
impotence;  gummy  tumors  (gummata),  which  often  perfo- 
rate and  destroy  the  velum  palati  (soft  palate)  and  leave  a 

'Op.  cit.,  pp.  526,  527. 


410  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

double  and  revolting  infirmit}^ ;  paralyses  of  the  eye  and  face ; 
hemiplegia  and  parai)legia;  inflammation  of  bone,  caries, 
ozsena  (fcetid  breath),  flattening  and  loss  of  the  nose;  with- 
out speaking  of  the  possibility  of  hereditary  transmission 
and  of  the  introduction  of  syphilis  into  the  family  circle. 
But  this  is  not  yet  all.  If  we  consult  r.  manual  of  patholog- 
ical anatomy,  we  shall  find  there  described  fatal  lesions  at- 
tributable to  sy i^hilis  alone.  The  causes  of  death  in  syphilis 
are  many  and  varied^ — death  by  hepatic  lesions,  cirrhosis, 
and  hei^atitis  gummosa ;  death  by  lesions  of  the  meninges ; 
by  cerebral  gummata  and  syphilitic  encephalitis ;  by  lesions 
of  tbe  spinal  cord,  which  are  more  common  than  is  generally 
believed;  by  exostoses  (l)ony  outgrowths)  of  the  cranium 
and  vertebne;  by  lesions  of  the  kidneys,  of  the  larynx,  and 
of  the  lungs;  and,  more  rareh",  by  lesions  of  the  oesoph- 
agus and  rectum;  death  by  consumption  and  progressive 
cachexia  (depraved  bodil}'  condition).  These  are,  in  short, 
the  possible  consequences  of  syphilis,  and  such  is  the  per- 
spective offered  to  a  person  who  contracts  this  contagion. 
Dare  we  call  a  disease  benign  which  can  end  thus?  Can  a 
disease  be  called  benign  which  is  fraught  with  such  serious 
accidents  and  Avhoso  pathological  anatomy  is  so  rich  and 
varied?  Dare  we  tell  jjersons  afflicted  with  this  disease  to 
leave  it  untreated,  to  let  things  go,  and  to  wait  patiently 
the  possible  results  of  such  an  infection,  without  warning 
them  of  it?" 

Tertiary  Lesions. — In  cases  where  syphilis  runs  its  regu- 
lar course,  unmodified  by  treatment,  certain  lesions  of  a 
graver  nature,  called  tertiary  lesions,  develoj),  usually  in 
the  third  or  fourth  year  of  the  infection,  but  sometimes 
even  as  late  as  ten,  twenty,  or  even  fifty  years   (Fournier). 

With  suflicient  care  in  the  treatment  the  tertiary  symp- 
toms may  never  appear ;  but  strangely  these  gravest  mani- 
festations of  syphilis  are,  on  account  of  the  negligence  in 
treatment,  more  apt  to  follow  in  cases  where  the  primary 
and  secondary  lesions  have  been  mild.     For  this  reason 


SYPHILIS.  411 

they  are  more  common  in  women,  because  everything  pos- 
sible is  done  to  keep  them  in  ignorance  when  they  are  inno- 
cently infected.  It  is  this  "  ignored  syphilis"  which  pre- 
sents the  most  shocking  complications. 

Tertiary  syphilis  is  remarkable  for  its  insidiousness  and 
its  disorderly  course,  no  two  cases  being  alike.  Therefore 
it  is  impossible  to  write  a  full  and  clear  account  within 
short  limits.  Sometimes  the  lesions  come  on  like  wildfire 
within  two  to  four  months  after  infection  and  raj^idly  pro- 
dace  the  most  threatening  complications  and  even  death. 
This  is  called  "galloping  syphilis." 

But  as  a  rule  these  tertiarj^  lesions  appear  some  time  after 
the  second  year.  They  differ  from  the  secondary  lesions 
in  being  slower  in  development,  less  numerous,  and  more 
destructive  to  the  deeper  parts  of  the  body,  e.g.,  the  brain, 
spinal  cord,  heart,  blood-vessels,  bones,  muscles,  viscera, 
etc. 

The  tendency  at  this  late  stage  of  the  disease  is  to  a 
progressive  growth  of  granulation-tissue  which  jjroduces 
nodules  and  tumors  ("granulomata,"  "gummata,"  or 
"  syphilomata") .  With  the  lapse  of  time  these  new-cell 
infiltrations  ulcerate  and  necrose  and  otherwise  cause  cica- 
trization, or  sclerosis,  in  the  most  vital  tissues  of  the  body. 
There  is  a  special  liability  to  the  most  horribly  loathsome 
and  disfiguring  skin  affections.  Sometimes  the  palate  and 
fauces  are  destroyed,  so  that  the  mouth,  nose  and  pharynx 
are  converted  into  one  enormous  cavity,  allowing  food  to 
regurgitate  through  the  nose  and  giving  a  distinctive  nasal 
quality  to  the  voice  which  the  French  call  "duck's  voice." 
In  many  cases  the  vocal  cords  are  damaged,  so  that  the 
voice  forever  after  remains  husky.  Syphilis,  in  its  later 
manifestations,  is  capable  of  infecting  any  or  all  of  the 
tissues  in  the  body ;  remotely  it  frequently  causes  death, 
or  the  most  hideous  distortions  and  malformations,  insan- 
ity, paralysis,  epilepsy,  blindness,  destruction  of  joints, 
sterility,  etc. 


412  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

Hei-editary  Syphilis. — In  the  hereditary  form  of  syphilis 
there  is  no  initial  lesion,  or  chancre,  and  it  cannot  be  divided 
into  well-defined  stages.  The  manifestations  of  the  disease 
correspond  in  type  to  the  secondary  and  tertiary  stages, 
which  often  coexist.  Prenatal  infection  maj^  overtake  the 
foetus  from  either  the  father  or  motlier,  or  from  both. 

Paternal  Transmission. — After  the  father's  chancre  has 
healed,  constitutional  symjjtoms  having  become  manifest, 
his  semen  may  carr}'  syphilitic  infection  during  the  proc- 
ess of  conception,  even  though  the  mother  be  not  inocu- 
lated. His  share  in  procreation  being  limited  to  the  mere 
act  of  fecundation  of  the  ovule,  the  blighting  influence  of 
paternal  descent  is  not  so  marked  as  when  the  mother  has 
constitutional  syi)hilis.  Without  efiicient  treatment  pater- 
nal transmission  is  probable  for  at  least  four  years  after 
his  infection,  and  in  some  cases  the  child  may  be  born 
syphilitic  even  after  many  years  of  apparent  absence  of  all 
manifestations  in  the  ancestor. 

Maternal  Transmission. — After  constitutional  symj^toms 
have  appeared  in  the  mother,  the  foitus  is  liable  to  be  born 
syx>hilitic  if  born  before  the  expiration  of  at  least  six  years. 
Or  a  healthy  foetus  may  become  infected  if  the  pregnant 
mother  become  syphilitic.  Syphilis  affecting  women  more 
profoundly  than  men,  especially  in  its  great  tendency  to 
produce  a  severe  type  of  anaemia  in  them,  the  foetus  has 
less  chance  of  developing  normalh-  when  the  mother  is 
tainted  than  when  the  morbid  influence  is  derived  solely 
from  the  father.  For  the  proper  development  and  nour- 
ishment of  the  foetus  in  utero  it  is  necessarj-  that  the  mother 
should  have  good  health,  and  consequently  maternal  trans- 
mission is  especially  malign  in  its  influence  on  the  child. 
Furthermore,  when  the  mother  is  sj-philitic  there  is  great 
risk  of  abortion  and  still-birth,  owing  to  syj^hilitic  lesions 
in  the  placenta  which  interfere  with  the  child's  vitalit3^ 

Transmission  from  Both  Parents. — When  both  parents 
are  syphilitic  at  the  time  of  imj)regnation,  the  child  will 


SYPHILIS.  413 

surely  be  tainted.  About  one-tliird  of  sucL.  cliildreu  will 
perish  before  birtli,  while  almost  all  of  those  bom  will  die 
within  the  first  six  months  after  birth. 

"  According  to  Kassowitz, '  one-third  of  all  children  pro- 
created of  syphilitic  parents  are  dead  born,  and  of  those 
born  living  twenty-four  per  cent  die  within  the  first  six 
months  of  life.  In  his  personal  experience  Fournier  ^  found 
that  in  private  practice  more  than  tw^o  out  of  three  heredi- 
tarily syphilitic  children  died,  either  before,  at,  or  soon 
after  birth.  In  hospital  practice  Fournier  found  that  out 
of  167  children  born  of  syphilitic  mothers,  145  died;  which 
means  that  one  child  out  of  seven  or  eight  survived.  It 
having  been  claimed  that  Fournier's  personal  statistics 
made  an  exceptionally  bad  showing,  and  that  they  were 
exaggerated,  he  collected  those  from  the  whole  world,  his 
own  excepted.  He  gathered  the  histories  of  447  cases  of 
children  whose  fathers  or  mothers  were  syphilitic,  and 
found  that  out  of  this  number  there  were  343  deaths,  there 
being  only  104  who  survived.  Of  the  343  children  who 
died,  only  six  lived  beyond  the  first  j^ear.  The  proi:)ortion 
of  living  children,  according  to  these  statistics,  is  1  to 
4.3.  We  may  understand  why  the  lesions  of  hereditary 
syphilis  are  so  severe  and  extensive,  and  why  its  fatality  is 
so  great,  when  we  consider  how  early  in  foetal  life  the  spe- 
cific virus  exerts  its  influence,  and  how  thoroujrhly  it  must 
be  diffused  through  the  organism  of  the  embrj'o."  ^  The 
longer  the  parents  have  had  syphilis  before  they  beget  off- 
spring the  less  is  the  chance  of  blighting  of  the  fcetus. 
Transmission  is  most  certain  within  the  first  Aear  after 
either  or  both  parents  have  acquired  the  disease,  and  with 
the  lapse  of  time  the  chances  grow  gradually  less  and  less, 
though  many  years  after  all  signs  of  syphilis  have  api)ar- 
ently  disappeared  from  the  parents,  the  children  may  be 

1  "Die  Vererbung  der  Syphilis,"  Vienna,  1876. 

2 "La  Syphilis  hereditaire  tardive,"  Paris,  1886,  pp.  160  et  seq. 

2  Taylor,  op.  cit.,  p.  290. 


414  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

born  sypliilitic.     This  especially  applies  wlien  tlie  parents 
liave  not  received  efficient  treatment. 

A  healthy  married  woman,  if  she  have  a  healthy  hus- 
band, naturall}^  becomes  impregnated,  harbors  the  child 
for  nine  calendar  months,  and  thereafter  suckles  it  for  from 
twelve  to  twenty  months.  Then,  if  she  be  prolific,  gesta- 
tions and  sucklings  succeed  each  other  for  a  number  of 
times,  births  recurring  approximately  every  three  3'ears. 
But  the  syphilitic  woman  is  liable  to  have  a  greater  number 
of  pregnancies  than  if  she  were  healthy — for  abortion  after 
abortion  occurs,  and  the  failure  to  suckle  of  course  renders 
her  more  subject  to  reimpregnation  at  an  early  date  after 
each  mishap. 

In  tainted  mothers  each  succeeding  abortion  usually 
comes  on  later  and  later  in  the  foetal  development,  until 
after  a  time  a  living  child  msby  be  born,  which,  however, 
probably  dies  of  syphilis.  Then  the  next  child  may  sur- 
vive and  develop,  even  though  congenitally  syphilitic,  and 
perhaps  the  subsequent  children  may  be  entirely  free  from 
the  disease. 

Thus  we  see  that  syphilis  gradually  loses  its  tendency  to 
blight  progeny,  and  that,  unlike  gonorrhoea,  it  does  not 
usually  sterilize  men  or  women,  though  producing  much 
the  same  ultimate  result  by  causing  successive  abortions. 

*' Conceptional  SypJdlis." — Though  long  disputed,  it  is 
now  pretty  generally  accepted  that  a  healthy  mother  can  be 
infected  by  a  foetus  which  has  been  originated  by  the  semen 
of  a  syphilitic  father.  In  the  large  majority  of  instances 
the  mother  is  infected  with  primary'  syphilis  directly  by 
the  father ;  but  after  his  chancre  has  healed  he  may  have 
coitus  with  her  without  inoculating  her,  though  his  semen 
renders  the  foetus  syphilitic.  In  this  event  the  mother 
may  acquire  the  disease  from  the  foetus  either  by  absorp- 
tion of  the  toxins,  or  by  direct  reception  of  the  germs  of 
syphilis  into  her  circulation,  if  there  have  been  any  lacera- 
tion or  solution  of  continuity  at  the  placental  site. 


SYPHILIS.  415 

Prognosis  in  Hereditary  Syphilis. — Wlien  either  or  both 
parents  are  coustitiitionally  tainted  the  i)robabilities  are, 
as  pointed  out,  that  abortion  after  abortion  will  occur — the 
foetuses  being  born  macerated,  or  softened  by  ijrocesses  of 
liquefaction. 

If  the  child  be  born  alive  it  will  probably  be  a  wizened, 
deformed,  stunted  and  blasted  little  thing,  emaciated,  hav- 
ing a  peculiar  senile  expression,  and  corrupted  through 
and  through  with  the  syphilitic  virus.  Fortunately  they 
usually  die  within  the  first  few  months.  Or  the  child  may 
be  born  apparently  healthy  and  not  show  any  of  the  mani- 
festations of  this  terrible  disease  until  several  weeks  have 
elapsed.  In  other  cases  of  hereditary  syphilis  the  outbreak 
may  be  deferred  until  the  time  of  the  second  dentition, 
or  until  puberty,  or  it  may  not  crop  out  until  the  child's 
maturity . 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  dwell  upon  the  special  lesions 
which  may  appear  throughout  the  life-history  of  such  a 
blasted  innocent,  since  they  are  very  similar  to  those  re- 
ferred to  under  acquired  syphilis.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
failures  in  development  and  the  most  hideous  and  shocking 
deformities,  blindness,  deafness,  paralysis,  epilepsy,  im- 
pairment of  mental  powers,  idiocy,  hydrocephalus,  and  a 
marked  tendency  to  develop  tubercular  affections,  are  the 
rule. 

Syphilis  and  Marriage. — When  may  a  syphilitic  marry? 
Some  years  ago  Fournier  and  Besnier  said  that  a  syphilitic 
might  incur  the  chances  of  a  possible  tragedy  by  marrying,  if 
he  waited  for  four  years  after  the  initial  lesion,  provided  that 
he  had  undergone  a  careful  and  prolonged  treatment.  But 
Besnier  and  others  have  recently  advanced  the  limit,  and 
it  is  now  considered  that  even  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances  five  years  should  elapse  before  marriage. 
Morel-Lavallee, '  after  presenting  indisputable  statistical 
evidence  that  secondary  lesions  appear  in  patients,  even 
^Rev.  de  TMrapeut.  Med.-Chirurg.,  November  15,  1896. 


416  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

when  under  skilled  medical  observation,  for  five,  ten,  or 
even  more  years,  maintains  that  it  should  be  an  invariable 
rule  not  to  allow  patients  to  marry  for  at  least  five  years 
after  infection,  and  not  even  then  unless  a  whole  vear  has 
elapsed  without  any  appearance  of  secondary'  symptoms, 
e.g.,  mucous  patches  in  the  mouth,  erosions  on  lips  or 
tongue,  etc.  After  five  years,  if  vigorous  specific  treatment 
has  been  intelligently  followed,  the  chances  that  syphilis 
will  be  transmitted  to  the  offspring  are  slight,  but  in  no 
case  can  a  positive  assurance  of  immunity  be  given. 

The  advice  which  the  average  physician  might  give  to  a 
patient — that  he  might  marry  five  years  after  the  primary 
infection  and  when  no  signs  had  been  seen  for  over  a  jear 
— would  be  (juite  different  from  his  absolute  refusal  when 
the  syphilitic  contemplated  marriage  with  some  member  of 
his  own  family,  even  though  the  suitor  had  acquired  the 
disease  innocenth\ 

From  the  standpoint  of  a  wise  and  thoughtful  justice  to 
the  interests  of  the  race,  syphilitics  should  never  marry ; 
for,  though  many  undoubtedly  eventually  have  healthy 
children,  yet  there  can  never  be  a  gladsome  confidence  that 
lesions  will  not  at  some  time  appear  in  the  children, 
and  that  the  results  will  not  extend  to  the  children's 
children. 

Tlie  Treatment  of  Sijpliilis. — Of  all  the  classes  of  patients 
which  a  physician  sees  none  appear  more  utterly  demoral- 
ized and  frightened  than  men  of  intelligence  who  have 
acquired  syphilis.  The  lack  of  happiness  in  their  faces 
and  their  apparent  abandonment  of  all  hope  are  quite  char- 
acteristic. 

Yet,  if  the  patient  be  not  a  fool,  if  he  will  forego  the 
falsehood  customary  in  venereal  afi'airs,  if  he  will  submit  to 
the  trouble,  expense  and  irksomeness  of  at  least  two  years 
of  active  treatment,  and  remain  under  observation  for 
months  or  years  thereafter,  the  chances  are  that  all  the 
graver  manifestations  of  the  disease  can  be  checked. 


SYPHILIS.  417 

If  sypliilis  be  carefully  and  systematically  treated  for  a 
sufficient  i:>eriod  of  time  it  is,  as  a  rule,  tractable,  so  that 
the  appearance  of  tertiary  symptoms  is  now  usuallj^  re- 
garded as  an  evidence  of  neglect.  Yet  in  a  certain  i)ropor- 
tion  of  cases  tlie  process  is  malignant  and  cannot  be  checked. 

Syphilis  is  one  of  the  very  few  diseases  for  which  we  have 
"specifics,"  or  remedies  which  are  peculiarly  efficacious; 
as  quinine  is  to  malaria,  so  are  mercury  and  the  iodides  to 
it.  In  fact  the  role  of  medicine  in  this  aifection  is  nothing 
short  of  brilliant.  But  certain  factors  are  essential  for  suc- 
cess. The  patient  must  select  a  physician  of  high  repute, 
to  whose  requirements  he  must  submit  as  absolutely  as 
does  the  traveller  to  his  guide  in  the  dark  miles  of  passage- 
ways and  recesses  in  the  Mammoth  Cave.  The  slightest 
deviation  from  the  path  pointed  out  by  his  medical  guide, 
however  unattractive  or  unreasonable  that  path  may  seem, 
will  surely  result  in  irreparable  damage,  and  for  the  next 
few  years  every  consideration  of  time,  money,  or  inclina- 
tion must  be  subserviently  set  aside  until  the  patient  has 
been  extricated  from  the  labyrinth  of  corruption. 

However  wearisome  it  may  be,  the  patient  must  be  docile 
and  absolutely  obedient  for  this  prolonged  time ;  otherwise 
this  disease  will  produce  conditions  so  horrible  as  to  be 
quite  bej'ond  accepting,  especially  when  by  care  they  can 
be  prevented.  Given  a  wise  and  painstaking  physician  and 
an  obedient  patient,  it  is  now  generally  recognized  that 
syphilis  can  almost  certainly  be  overcome  in  time.  In 
fact  there  is  preponderating  evidence  that  in  certain  in- 
stances reinfection  has  occurred.  For  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years  mercury  has  been  known  as  a  specific  in  this 
disease,  and  it  remains  to-day  our  most  efficient  drug. 
Equally  useful  in  their  places  are  the  iodides  of  potash 
and  of  soda,  the  former  of  which  is  more  commonly  em- 
ployed. 

The  various  methods  of  treatment  which  are  indicated  in 
different  cases  and  in  the  different  stages  of  the  disease  are 
27 


418  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

SO  technical  and  professional,  and  tlirow  so  little  light  on 
the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  pathology,  that  it  would 
here  be  quite  out  of  place  to  attempt  their  consideration. 
Consequently  the  interested  reader  is  referred  to  the  vari- 
ous excellent  text-books  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

Onanism. 

Onanism  is  a  term  of  comprehensive  meaning,  applicable 
in  a  broad  sense  to  all  forms  of  sexual  stimulation  emploj^ed 
by  either  sex,  singly  or  mutually,  to  produce  orgasm  in 
unnatural  ways  —  i.e.,  otherwise  than  by  coitus.  The 
onanistic  acts  are  as  follows:  "Withdrawal,"  or  the 
offence  of  Onan';  "coitus  in  os";  "coitus  inter  femora" ; 
pederasty;  bestiality;  "mutual  masturbation";  "self-pol- 
lution" (masturbation,  auto-sexual  indulgence) ,  etc. 

None  of  these  acts  have  in  view  the  perpetuation  of  the 
species,  and  all  are  therefore  perversions.  We  shall  here 
chiefly  concern  ourselves  with  onanism  in  relation  to  the 
acts  of  self-pollution,  which,  of  all  the  varieties,  is  b}'  far 
the  most  frequent. 

Causes  ivhich  Predispose  to  Auto-Sexual  Stimulation. — 
Anything  which  produces  irritation  in  the  genital  zone,  or 
which  strongly  directs  the  attention  to  those  parts,  is  liable 
to  result  in  handling  of  the  privates,  and  thus  the  habit  is 
often  acquired  by  children  without  consciousness  of  wrong. 
Eczema,  pruritus  (intolerable  itching  locally) ,  worms  in  the 
rectum,  a  too  tight  or  too  redundant  prepuce,  the  accumu- 
lation of  smegma,  or  the  natural  cheese-like  material,  be- 
neath the  foreskin,  and  various  other  causes,  all  lead  to 
manipulation  of  the  sexual  apparatus. 

Certain  kind  of  movements  occasion  pleasurable  lustful 
feelings  in  certain  individuals ;  for  instance,  the  gymnastic 
feats  of  swinging  on  a  trapeze,  rope-climbing,  etc. ,  are  fol- 
lowed by  ejaculation  in  not  a  few  instances.     Dangers  also 

'  Vide  Genesis  xxxviii.,  9. 


420  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

lurk  in  improperly  adjusted  bicycle  saddles,  badly-fitting 
clothing,  and,  occasionally,  even  in  the  running  of  sewing- 
machines. 

Pollutions  may  follow  these  acts  without  the  individual 
having  the  slightest  iinpure  intent,  but  are  quite  harmless 
unless  employed  as  excuses  for  indulgence  by  voluntary 
self-stimulation.  But  the  more  frequent  causes  of  mastur- 
bation lie  in  other  directions.  In  every  aggregation  of 
children  a  certain  proportion  are  seduced  by  the  bad  ex- 
ample of  their  perversely  inclined  companions.  This  is, 
or  should  be,  known  to  all  teachers  in  schools.  In  refor- 
matories for  juveniles,  and  in  i)risons  for  adults,  mutual  and 
auto-masturbaticm  is  notorioush'  prevalent,  and  is  only 
kept  down  by  constant  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  wardens. 
The  author  is  informed  by  the  attendants  at  the  District 
Keform  School  that  the  boys,  most  of  whom,  by  the  way, 
have  "stigmata  of  degeneration,"  or  anatomical  defects, 
must  bo  watched  day  and  night  in  order  to  prevent  these 
practices  and  even  then  the}'  find  opportunities  for  i)erverse 
indulgence.  It  is  a  mistake  to  assume  that  this  vice  is 
limited  to  growing  boys,  for  it  is  practised  more  or  less  in 
every  assemblage  of  either  sex  where  they  are  groiiped  to- 
gether in  large  numbers,  and  also,  of  course,  by  numerous 
individuals  of  all  ages  in  private  life.  Some  nurses  have  a 
vicious  habit  of  quieting  children  by  titillation  of  their 
genitals ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  jileasurable  feelings, 
with  erection,  can  be  induced  manj'  .years  before  the  time  of 
puberty.  This,  of  course,  predisposes  to  furious  masturba- 
tion later  on.  "  There  seems  hardly  any  limit  to  the  age  at 
which  a  young  child  can  be  initiated  into  these  abomina- 
tions, or  to  the  depths  of  degradation  to  which  it  may  fall 
under  such  hideous  teaching."'  Sometimes  nurses,  or 
servant-maids,  practise  masturbation  on  children,  chiefly 
boys,  for  their  own  curiosity,  and  sometimes  they  actually 
copulate  with  them,  secure  in  their  opportunities  from  all 
'  "  Acton  on  the  Reproductive  Organa, "  p.  39. 


h 


ONANISM.  421 

chance  of  exposure.  In  this  way  3'oung  children  have 
occasionally  been  infected  with  venereal  disease.  Various 
habits  of  children  predispose  them  to  vicious  ways,  such 
as  idleness,  apathy  in  play,  too  long  repose  in  bed,  the 
use  of  spicy  food,  etc. 

Masturbation  is  sometimes  a  symi)tom  of  brain-disease, 
and  sometimes  a  legacy  inherited  along  with  an  unstable 
nervous  sj'stem.  It  is  frequent  in  hysteria,  mania,  idiocy, 
imbecility,  insanity,  epilepsy  and  dementia,  and  such  un- 
fortunates are  also  very  prone  to  manifest  tendencies  in  the 
direction  of  other  perversions. 

Varieties  of  Mastarhation. — The  sexual  orgasm  may  be 
induced  (1),  by  a  local  friction  and  stimulation  of  the 
erogenous  areas;'  (2),  solely  by  a  vivid  psj^chical  excita- 
tion; (3),  or  by  a  combination  of  the  local  and  imaginative 
processes. 

In  the  adult,  masturbation  is  almost  always  accomjoanied 
by  lively  and  highly  colored  mind-pictures  which  are  ex- 
cessively i)leasing  to  the  individual;  in  fact  he  is  sure  to 
picture  to  himself  those  ideational  concepts  which  will  best 
help  him  to  reach  an  extreme  acme  of  orgasm.  Such  situ- 
ations as  he  paints  for  himself  can  rarelj'  be  enjoyed  in 
reality,  and  thus  he  often  gets  to  prefer  his  solitary  habit 
to  the  normal  act.  But  in  a  few  cases  the  imagination 
plays  a  secondary-  part,  and  the  individual  derives  a  purely 
physical  pleasure  by  friction  of  the  erogenous  areas. 

Some  individuals  who  have  resorted  to  great  excesses 
in  verier e  and  masturbation  arrive  at  a  condition  where  the 

^  The  primary  erogenous  areas  are :  in  man,  the  glans  penis, 
foreskin  and  testicles ;  in  woman,  the  vagina,  clitoris,  cervix  uteri 
and  nipples.  Secondary,  or  artificial  erogenous  areas  may  patho- 
logically exist  in  almost  any  locality  in  certain  individuals,  e.g.,  in 
places  in  proximitj'to  the  genital  organs  and  breasts,  or  in  the  anus  ; 
and  many  individuals  have  certain  areas, —ears,  lips,  wrists,  hands, 
feet,  legs,  etc., — the  manipulations  of  which  at  the  hands  of  the 
opposite  sex  may  excite  lustful  feelings  quite  independently  of  evil 
intention. 


422  HEREDITY  AND  MORALS. 

fancy  is  so  abnormally  excitable,  and  where  tbey  Lave  sucli 
a  degree  of  psycho-sexual  hyperaesthesia  that  they  can  in- 
dulge in  what  is  called  "  iDsychical  onanism,"  "  ideal  coitus,' 
or  "mental  masturbation,"  In  such  the  mere  influence  of 
erotic  thoughts  and  visions  can  bring  about  lustful  feeling, 
or  even  pollution,  in  the  wakeful  state  and  in  dreams,  and 
many  of  them  are  largelj^  concerned  in  picturing  to  them- 
selves the  most  pleasing  situations  of  sexual  relations. 
Cases  are  recorded  where  persons  who  have  no  pleasure 
from  tactile  stimulation  yet  have  erection  and  ejaculation 
by  "ideal  coitus."  Schrenck-Notzing  '  gives  the  following 
typical  case : 

"  One  of  my  patients  is  also  able  to  indulge  in  the  pleas- 
ure of  this  ideal  coitus  at  anj-  time.  A  quiet,  comfortable 
position,  either  lying  or  sitting,  is  the  preparatory  measure 
necessary  for  success.  Then  he  allows  his  fancy  free  rein, 
and  dreams  intensely — though  consciousness  is  intact — 
that  he  is  in  the  desired  situation,  until  ejaculation  takes 
place." 

In  hyperpesthetic  individuals  various  external  influences 
react  on  the  brain  through  the  senses  of  sight,  hearing, 
touch  and  smell,  so  as  to  reflexh^  produce  sexual  stimula- 
tion and  ejaculation;  and  sometimes  even  a  memory-i)ic- 
ture,  if  brought  before  the  mind  in  an  intense  light,  may 
produce  a  similar  effect.  There  are  man^^  persons,  with- 
out question,  who  practise  some  form  of  this  oculo-cerebral 
masturbation.  The  contemplation  of  lascivious  plaj^s  and 
costumes,  the  masquerading  in  the  attire  of  the  opposite 
sex,  the  applause  for  pictures  in  the  nude,  the  enthusiasm 
for  the  ballet,  for  erotic  literature,  and  for  many  other  of 
the  immodest  amusements  of  society,  all  afford  onanistic 
enjoyment — to  some  at  least  of  the  beholders  and  partici- 
pants— along  these  lines.  In  that  such  amusements  are 
erotic  and  highly  stimulating  sexually  to  certain  nervous 
individuals  predisposed  to  immorality,  they  come  well 
1  "Suggestive  Therapeutics  in  Psychopatliia  Sexualis, "  p.  10 


ONANISM.  423 

within  the  limits  of  mental  masturbation,  and  should  be 
recognized  as  such  by  the  censors  of  public  entertainments. 

Results  of  Onanism. — Onanism  in  any  form  is  exceedingly 
harmful  in  the  injury  done  to  both  mind  and  body,  because 
from  its  want  of  conformity  to  nature  it  keeps  the  imagina- 
tion inflamed  with  erotic  excitement  and  exaggerates  the 
importance  of  the  sexual  functions  in  the  individual's  view, 
besides  draining  the  system  of  one  of  the  most  vital  fluids 
by  a  frequency  of  gratification  usuall}^  not  practised  by  the 
fornicator.  This  form  of  excitation  produces  an  intense 
nervous  shock,  which  is  greater  than  that  produced  in 
coitus. 

Psychical  Results. — 1.  It  destroys  the  normal  sexual  feel- 
ing and  substitutes  for  it  inflamed  passions  and  a  hyper- 
excitability  of  the  sexual  functions. 

2.  It  separates  the  victim  further  and  further  from  wo- 
men and  puts  him  into  a  peculiarly  unnatural  relation  to 
them. 

3.  It  renders  him  indisposed  to  marriage  by  poisoning 
the  very  source  from  which  the  impulse  to  love  comes. 

4.  It  tends  to  ruin  the  very  foundations  of  his  vita 
sexualis  by  substituting  an  unnatural  and  purposeless  act 
for  the  physiological  incentive  of  procreation. 

5.  The  onanist  transgresses  the  law  of  self-preservation 
and  prostitutes  his  sexual  powers,  thereby  losing  the  stimu- 
lus to  put  forth  his  strength,  with  the  loss  as  well  of  self- 
confidence. 

6.  He  becomes  a  morose,  solitary,  timid  and  cowardly' 
semblance  of  manhood. 

7.  He  becomes  psychically  impotent  and  unfit  for  nat- 
ural coitus,  because  natural  means  disapjjoint  him  and  are 
not  so  pleasing  as  the  fantastic  fancies  which  he  pictures 
to  himself. 

8.  His  conscience  is  perverted  by  the  inherent  apper- 
ception of  his  sin  and  shame,  and  his  mental  strength  and 
power  of  concentration  become  weakened. 


424  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

9.  Being  maintained  in  a  constant  state  of  lustful  feel- 
ing lie  is  liable  to  fall  a  victim  to  male  seducers  and  pe- 
derasts, of  wliom  there  are  many. 

10.  Psychically  and  physically  he  becomes  characterless, 
less  and  less  a  man,  and  more  and  more  a  slave  to  his 
j)assions,  the  opportunity  for  the  gratification  of  which  is 
alwaj's  in  his  power. 

Physical  Effects. — Our  very  lives  are  bound  up  with  our 
reproductive  organs,  the  testicles  being  wonderful  labora- 
tories for  the  development  of  a  secretion  which  is  superla- 
tively essential  in  the  activities  of  life.  From  the  time  of 
puberty  on,  this  secretion  is  constantly  being  elaborated, 
and  its  function  is  for  procreation  and  not  for  debasement 
by  sensual  pleasure.  The  constitutional  effects  of  wantonly 
squandering  it  are  mostly  manifested  in  injury  to  the  ner- 
vous system. 

1.  The  victim  is  subject  to  loss  of  spirit,  weakness  of 
memory,  despondency  and  apathy. 

y  2.  He  suffers  languor,  irritability,  headaches,  neuralgias, 
dimness  of  vision,  etc. 

3.  Ansemia  and  facial  acne  are  common. 

4.  There  is  loss  of  manly  bearing,  and  proneness  to  blush. 

5.  The  path  leads  to  imbecility  and  premature  senility. 

6.  The  countenance  and  demeanor  stamp  the  onanist  as 
an  object  of  reasonable  suspicion. 

/  7.  He  is  often  unable  to  free  himseK  from  the  grasp  of 
the  habit,  because  there  is  poor  material  on  which  to  call 
for  manly  restraint. 

8.  His  genitals  bear  the  marks  of  his  degrading  practice. 

9.  His  digestion  and  heart  action  are  disturbed,  and  he 
becomes  a  moody,  apprehensive,  hypochondriacal  invalid, 
if  not  a  gross  pervert. 

10.  He  may  suffer  from  diurnal  and  nocturnal  involun- 
tary pollutions,  spermatorrhoea  or  prostatorrhoea.  Some- 
times there  is  irritability  at  the  neck  of  the  bladder  with 
inability  to  pass  water  or  to  retain  it. 


ONANISM.  425 

11.  He  bequeaths  au  undesirable  legacy  to  liis  posterity, 
giving  both  his  sous  and  daughters  a  proneness  to  psy- 
choses and  neuroses,  especially  in  their  sexual  proclivities. 
"  Nothing  is  so  prone  to  contaminate — under  certain  cir- 
cumstances, even  to  exhaust— the  source  of  all  noble  and 
ideal  sentiments,  which  arise  of  themselves  from  a  nor- 
mally developing  sexual  instinct,  as  the  practice  of  mas- 
turbation in  earh'  years.  It  despoils  the  unfolding  bud  of 
perfume  and  beauty,  and  leaves  behind  only  the  coarse, 
animal  desire  for  sexual  satisfaction.  If  an  individual, 
spoiled  in  this  manner,  reaches  an  age  of  maturity,  there 
is  wanting  in  him  that  aesthetic,  ideal,  pure  and  free  im- 
pulse which  draws  one  toward  the  opposite  sex.  Thus  the 
glow  of  sensual  sensibility  wanes,  and  the  inclination  toward 
the  opposite  sex  becomes  weakened.  This  defect  influences 
the  morals,  character,  fancy,  feeling,  and  instinct  of  the 
youthful  masturbator,  male  or  female,  in  an  unfavorable 
way,  and,  under  certain  circumstances,  allows  the  desire 
for  the  opposite  sex  to  sink  to  ?h7;  so  that  masturbation 
is  preferred  to  the  natural  mode  of  satisfaction."  ' 

Some,  to  whom  the  sexual  functions  and  their  anomalies 
are  a  terra  incognita,  seem  to  believe  that  onanism  is  not 
necessarily  more  harmful  than  coitus  if  it  is  kept  within 
proper  limits  and  not  performed  any  more  frequently- ;  for, 
they  argue,  semen  is  expended  in  each  act,  and  it  matters 
not  where  it  is  deposited.  Physically  it  might  not  be  more 
injurious  if  only  occasionally  indulged  in ;  but  the  psychical 
disaster  stands  ever  prominently  in  the  way,  and  little  by 
little  self-control  is  lost  until  the  habit  has  become,  as  Ci- 
cero says,  "a  furious  task-master."  Certainly  every  mas- 
turbator does  not  sink  to  the  lowest  depths,  for  thousands 
upon  thousands  have  at  some  time  in  their  lives  indulged 
in  self-abuse  to  some  extent;  but  the  tendencies  are  all 
downward,  with  the  chances  in  favor  of  the  habit  getting 
the  mastery  over  the  individual.  Naturally  enough,  the 
'  Kraflft-Ebing  :  "Psychopathia  Sexualis,"  p.  188. 


426  HEREDITY  AND   MORALS. 

longer  tlie  vice  is  indulged  in  and  tlie  earlier  it  is  com- 
menced, the  more  it  destroys  the  morals  and  the  finer 
qualities  of  the  mind  and  imagination,  so  that  it  is  as- 
suredly true  that  these  attributes — the  finer  endowments  of 
man — suifer  graver  lesions  than  do  the  physical. 

In  this  extraordinary  form  of  sexual  gratification  the  im- 
agination, in  adults  at  leasb,  is  almost  always  brought  into 
play  artificially  with  tremendous  force,  without  which 
psychical  process  the  act  would  be  bereft  of  its  chief  charm. 

However  frightened  the  masturbator  may  become  when 
he  begins  to  realize  the  results  of  his  vice,  and  however 
much  he  may  experience  a  loathing  for  himself,  it  is  yet 
most  difficult  for  him  to  reinstate  himself  into  a  normal 
sexual  condition,  because  of  the  pathological  state  into 
which  his  mental,  moral  and  physical  natures  have  been 
degraded — a  plight  most  unfavorable  for  the  exercise  of  self- 
control  and  mastery.  T\'hat  he  supposed  to  be  a  slender 
rope  which  bound  him,  he  finds  to  his  dismay  to  be  an  iron 
chain  when  he  struggles  to  free  himself. 

In  long-continued  cases  the  mastiu-bator  may  be  worried 
by  pollutions  which  occur  involuntarily  day  and  night,  and 
the  spermatorrhoea  may  sap  his  vitality  without  the  ac- 
companiment of  any  pleasurable  feeling.  If  he  undertake 
to  have  sexual  intercourse  he  may  have  i:)remature  ejacula- 
tion in  the  attempt  and  the  act  may  result  in  a  farce.  Or 
he  may  have  the  power  to  perform  coitus  {potentia  coeundi), 
but  not  the  power  to  procreate  {potentia  generandi),  or  both 
may  be  absent. 

This  sort  of  creature  is  only  the  counterfeit  of  a  man, 
and  it  is  well  that  he  is  disinclined  to  marry,  for  such  an 
ancestor  is  unfit  to  found  or  perpetuate  a  family. 

Thus  it  is  evident  that  masturbation  is  ahvays  harmful, 
even  if  seldom  performed,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the 
loss  of  semen  as  on  account  of  the  deep  impression  on  the 
central  nervous  system — the  brain  and  spinal  cord.  Al- 
most always  there  is  required  an  extraordinary  intense- 


ONANISM.  427 

ness  of  imagination  out  of  all  i)roportion  to  that  experi- 
enced in  the  normal  act,  and  so  tlie  character  is  injured,  the 
victim  becoming  independent  of  the  opjiosite  sex  and  ac- 
quiring imperative  mental  concepts  which  may  require  to 
be  reproduced,  either  psychically  or  in  reality,  if  he  is 
to  be  potent  in  the  sexual  act.  "  The  dreams  [images] 
which  accompany  the  ouanistic  act  are  not  realized  in 
marriage,  and  to  the  great  surprise  of  such  patients  their 
virility  is  well-nigh  extinguished."  ' 

The  onanist  may  become  both  relatively  and  psychically 
impotent.  By  "  relative  impotence"  is  meant  where  a  man 
is  potent  with  special  women  who  please  his  fancy,  and  im- 
potent with  others ;  thus  a  man  may  be  frigid  toward  his 
wife,  though  quite  potent  with  prostitutes. 

In  "ijsychical  impotence"  erection  is  prevented  by  in- 
hibitory nerve-influence  from  the  brain ;  thus  the  consum- 
mation of  the  sexual  act  may  be  impossible  in  normal  coitus 
among  those  men  who  have  employed  unnatural  and  de- 
grading means  for  the  production  of  orgasm.  The  devices 
emjjloyed  by  prostitutes  may  stimulate  them  to  an  unnat- 
ural degree  of  lustfid  passion,  while  they  are  impotent  for 
marriage  with  pure  women." 

If  the  practice  of  masturbation  be  begun  before  full  de- 
velopment is  reached  it  prevents  the  evolution  cf  the  mas- 
culine type  of  mind  and  body,  and  if  there  is  any  heredi- 
tary strain  of  insanity  it  is  the  most  favorable  means  of 
bringing  it  to  evidence.  Furthermore,  almost  all  sexual 
perverts  owe  their  anomalies  of  desire,  inclination  and 
fancy  to  the  neurasthenia  brought  on  b}'  either  their  own 
or  their  ancestors'  onanism.  If  a  man  is  to  have  progeny 
with  normal  nervous  systems,  he  must  not  b}'  any  manner 
of  onanism  abuse  those  ver^-  functions  upon  which  all  in- 
heritance depends.  The  act  of  "withdrawal,"  or  "conju- 
gal onanism,"  is  merely  one  form  of  mutual  masturbation; 

'Sehrenck-Notziug,  loc.  cit.,  p.  17. 

'Compare  Ultzmaun,  "Genito-Urinary  Neuroses,"  pp.  32  and  148. 


428  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

and,  if  pregnancy  by  cliance  follows  at  some  time,  the  cliild 
will  certainly  show  evidences  of  abnormality  of  desire  or 
conformation  at  some  stage  in  its  history.  Onanism  in 
any  form  is  thus  most  unfair  to  i^osterity— far  more  so  than 
can  be  appreciated  by  a  layman  who  neglects  to  read  works 
on  heredity,  criminality  and  allied  medical  topics ;  and  no 
right-minded  person  can  give  any  quarter  to  a  vice  so  de- 
structive of  everything  noble  and  dignified  in  human  nature. 
Onanism  is,  of  course,  sometimes  practised  by  the  other 
sex,  but  not  nearly  to  the  same  extent  as  by  men.  The  dis- 
astrous results  in  them  do  not  come  about  on  account  of  the 
loss  of  any  vital  fluid— though  there  is,  at  the  height  of 
orgasm,  a  secretion  from  the  glands  of  Bartholin — but  the 
act  exerts  a  powerful  influence  on  their  more  susceptible 
nervous  systems,  producing  hysteria,  convulsions,  men- 
strual disorders,  aberrations  in  the  domain  of  love,  etc. 

A  cloud  hangs  over  thousands  of  homes  which  shelter 
these  enervated  and  neurasthenic  individuals ;  only  a  few 
of  the  unfortunates  seek  medical  advice,  partly  on  account 
of  shame,  partly  on  account  of  their  seeming  happiness  in 
their  degraded  sensuality.  The  majority— a  vast  number 
—are  practising  the  vice  in  solitude ;  some  reach  the  asy- 
lums ;  more  fall  victims  to  the  wickedness  of  charlatans  and 
advertising  pariahs  of  the  medical  profession. 

Treatment  of  Onamsm.—'EyeYj  child  has  good  and  bad 
propensities,  for  health  and  disease,  for  morality  or  vice, 
which  tend  to  unfold  themselves  at  the  different  stages  of 
life's  drama.  No  family  blood  is  so  noble  that  it  is  not  in 
a  measure  contaminated  by  the  legacy  of  some  ancestor, 
more  or  less  remote,,  on  either  the  paternal  or  maternal 
side;  and  a  failure  to  recognize  this  is  to  admit  one's  self 
to  be  a  fool  or  a  demigod. 

Well  would  it  be  if  families  looked  forward  to  posterity, 
for  which  they  are  responsible,  with  the  same  pride  with 
which  they  look  backw^ard  to  their  ancestors,  for  w^fom 
they  are  not  responsible !    To  regard  any  child  as  free  from 


ONANISM.  429 

sensual  danger  is  criminally  negligent,  while  to  recognize 
that  all  flesh  is  susceptible  to  contamination  is  the  part  of 
wisdom.  We  have  daily  evidence  of  the  power  of  early 
suggestions  over  human  instincts,  and  it  would  be  well  in- 
deed if  we  should  effectively  appreciate  the  fact  that  mental 
and  nervous  diseases  are  especially  liable  to  be  transmitted 
to  offspring,  giving  them  neuropathic  dispositions  which 
are  the  most  favorable  foundations  upon  which  to  rear 
temples  dedicated  to  vice. 

Yet  the  evil  tendencies  may  as  a  rule  be  counteracted  by 
directing  the  children  in  right  paths  and  giving  them  occu- 
pations which  will  bring  forth  healthy  minds  in  sound 
bodies.  Success  may  more  confidently  be  looked  for  in 
the  upbuilding  of  character  and  jihysique  if  the  child  is 
early  sent  in  the  right  direction,  and  his  virtues  will  then 
overcome  his  hereditary  weaknesses.  Powerful  though 
the  reversional  heritages  of  both  injurious  and  beneficial 
qualities  undoubtedh'  are,  yet  of  even  greater  importance 
is  the  influence  of  the  external  surroundings,  or  environ- 
ment, on  the  child — of  occupation,  of  ideals  which  are  set 
before  him,  of  imitation,  of  curiosity,  or  of  cultivation  of 
vice.  "  Environment  is  the  co-operating  and  to  us  vitally 
important  factor,  inasmuch  as  it  ma,j  supplement  and  thus 
reinforce  the  hereditary  tendencies,  whether  good  or  bad; 
or  it  may  even  tend  to  turn  them  into  new  channels,  cor- 
recting the  evil  or  vitiating  the  good."  ' 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  suggestions  received  in 
childhood  are  prone  to  have  a  preponderating  influence  on 
the  whole  future  life  of  the  individual  in  an  abnormal  or 
normal  direction;  so  that  the  surroundings  of  children 
must  be  considered,  and  thej-  must  be  watched  and  pro- 
tected both  against  contamination  by  evil  companions  and 
from  local  causes  of  irritation  in  the  genital  area.  It  is 
unfair  to  a  child  to  i^ermit  him  to  be  unclean  in  his  geni- 

'D.  K.  Shute,  M.D.  :  "Heredity  with  Variation."  Kew  York 
Medical  Journal,  September  11,  1897. 


430  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

tals,  and  so  be  must  be  tauglit,  as  a  part  of  liis  daily  ablu- 
tions, to  retract  tlie  foreskin  and  to  wash  away  tlie  smegma 
wbicli  is  secreted  by  the  inner  mucous  lining  of  that  in- 
tegumentary covering ;  otherwise  it  often  undergoes  an  am- 
moniacal  decomposition,  becomes  foul-smelling  and  keeps 
up  a  constant  source  of  discomfort.  Better  by  far  would  it 
be  if  all  boys  were  circumcised,  for  that  safeguard  prac- 
tically excludes  all  possibility  of  local  irritation  and  has 
not  a  single  argument  in  its  disfavor.  In  this  event  there 
is  no  necessity  of  paying  the  slightest  attention  to  the 
cleanliness  of  the  genitals  any  more  than  to  other  parts  of 
the  body.  The  Jews — that  circumcised  nation  who  to  this 
dsij  remain  as  the  "  standing  astonishment  of  the  world" — • 
are  a  notxrrhjusi  v  ])ro1ifip.  rnnp.  comjiaratively  free  from  mas- 
turbation and  venereal  diseases. 

Curiosity  and  imitation,  as  is  well  known,  are  almost 
apishly  shown  by  active  children — always  with  a  tendency' 
to  go  beyond  any  evil  example  which  is  set,  and,  if  not 
warned,  thej^  are  in  peril  of  falling  under  the  influence  of 
older  companions  of  depraved  in-oclivities.  The  young  boy 
enjoys  the  act  of  masturbation  but  little,  and  is  often  spurred 
on  by  the  influence  of  banter  and  ridicule,  without,  as  a 
rule,  any  definite  comi)reliension  of  wrong.  In  fact,  most 
persons  who  have  i^ractised  this  vice  have  never  received 
careful  warning  when  young.  There  is  no  danger  of  cor- 
rupting a  pure  child  by  a  properly  given  admonition,  telling 
him  that  he  will  x^i'obably  see  others  committing  the  sinful 
act  of  play  with  their  private  parts,  and  appealing  to  him  to 
shun  all  such  companions. 

Can  it  be  possible  to  keep  a  bright  child's  mind  free  from 
sexual  matters  when  he  sees  sexual  acts  among  the  dogs  and 
the  cats,  in  the  poultry- -yard  and  around  the  bam ;  when 
he  reads  things  in  the  papers  which  excite  his  wonder; 
w^hen  he  sees  the  flaring  posters  of  ballet-dancers;  when 
he  comes  into  contact  with  badly  brought-up  schoolmates? 
No,  it  is  impossible,  unless  he  is  reared  up  as  a  delicate. 


onanism:.  431 

soft-skinned,  girlish  boy,  and  for  such  the  danger  is  even 
greater  than  for  the  boy  of  the  street.  In  each  individual's 
character  self  stands  out  prominently — in  fact  self  repre- 
sents the  individual.  Therefore  it  is  this  self  which  must 
be  early  regulated  so  that  the  child  may  become  self-gov- 
erned, self-masterful,  self-respecting  and  self-controlled,  all 
of  which  requires  an  effort  of  repression  and  mastery.  This 
represents  the  acme  of  effective  education.  Otherwise  he 
must  necessarily  become  self-willed,  self-indulgent,  self- 
abased,  self-polluted  and  selfish.  It  is  most  highly  desir- 
able that  the  sexes  should  be  encouraged  to  find  pleasure 
in  each  other's  society,  and  that  they  should  not  stay  too 
much  apart ;  for  they  are  the  natural  complements  of  each 
other,  and  bring  out,  by  the  stimulus  of  friendship,  the 
best  qualities  in  one  another.  And  yet  we  must  discoun- 
tenance any  marked  preference  for  the  opposite  sex,  dis- 
couraging girls  from  being  tom-boys  and  boys  from  i)lay- 
ing  girlish  games,  for  these  are  evils  of  a  specialh' 
dangerous  tendency.  One  of  the  best  ways  to  develop  the 
moral  natures  of  children  is  by  play,  which,  as  every  ob- 
server of  child-nature  knows,  is  essential  for  the  making  of 
a  fine  man  or  woman.  This  play-element,  furthermore, 
should  be  kept  active  throughout  life,  for  in  this  way  one's 
mind  is  kept  bright,  one's  character  generous  and  compan- 
ionable, and  one's  physique  hearty  and  strong.  Boys 
should  be  encouraged  to  excel  in  manly  sports — to  ride, 
row,  swim,  etc. ;  to  have  deep  chests  and  hard  muscles,  to 
play  hard  and  to  stud}'  hard.  An  athletic  boy  will  hardh' 
fall  into  great  harm,  and  to  the  discipline  of  his  muscles 
there  is  added  a  still  greater  discipline  to  his  mind,  and 
character,  and  pluck,  and  iuflexibility  and  manliness. 

With  all  this  care  it  will  be  an  idle  effort  if  the  child  is 
left  to  grow  ui)  without  moral  and  religious  precepts  which 
will  equip  him  with  a  normal  conscience  as  a  mentor  of  his 
actions  to  inhibit  his  evil  passions. 

Medicinal  treatment  for  the  effects  of  masturbation  plays 


4S2  HEREDITY   AND    MORALS. 

a  secondary  role,  but  is  not  without  benefit  in  suitable 
cases.  The  functional  disease  of  the  heart,  the  digestive 
disturbances,  the  dimness  of  vision,  the  hang-dog  counte- 
nance, and  all  the  other  stigmata  of  the  vice,  rapidly  dis- 
appear, as  a  rule,  with  the  abandonment  of  the  practice. 


CHAPTEK  Xin. 

The  Perveksions  (Psychopathia  Sexualis — Psychopathol- 

OGY  OF    THE   SeXUAL  LdFE). 

The  perversions  show  the  dark  side  of  man's  nature,  in 
which  normal  impulses  have  become  dislocated.  This 
most  revolting  subject  falls  mainly  within  the  province  of 
the  physician,  the  alienist  or  specialist  in  nervous  dis- 
eases, the  jurist  and  the  criminal  lawyer;  but  in  the  pres- 
ent work  it  cannot  be  entirely  ignored. 

The  treatise  of  von  Krafft-Ebing '  is  practically  the  only 
scientific  source  of  information  in  this  territory,  teaching 
nothing  immoral,  and  containing  many  beautiful  passages 
in  contrast  with  the  horrible  details  which  it  is  his  duty  as 
a  psychiatrist  to  rehearse.  As  the  author's  observations 
in  this  line  have  been  very  limited,  he  is  compelled  to  draw 
all  his  ideas  in  this  realm  from  this  source,  claiming  no 
credit.  In  a  jjersonal  communication  from  the  distin- 
guished Vienna  professor,  permission  has  been  cordially 
granted  and  encouragement  given  to  make  such  use  of  his 
work  as  may  be  of  ser^ice. 

"  The  importance  of  the  subject  for  the  welfare  of  society, 
especially  forensically,  demands,  however,  that  it  should 
be  examined  scientifically.  Only  he  who,  as  a  medico- 
legal expert,  has  been  in  a  iDositiou  where  he  has  been 
compelled  to  pass  judgment  uj)on  his  fellow-men,  where 
life,  freedom  and  honor  were  at  stake,  and  realized  pain- 
fully the  incompleteness  of  our  knowledge  concerning  the 
pathology  of  the  sexual  life,  can  fully  understand  the  signifi- 
cance of  an  attempt  to  gain  definite  views  concerning  it."  "^ 

*" Psychopathia  Sexualis,"  translated  by  C.  G.  Chaddock,  M. D., 
1893.  ^  Loc.  cit.,  Preface,  p.  iv. 


434  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

Every  sexual  act  is  perverse  "  which  does  not  correspond 
with  the  purpose  of  nature,  i.e.,  propagation."  It  is  im- 
portant to  distinguish  between  perversion,  which  is  a  men- 
tal disease,  and  perversity,  which  is  a  \dce;  the  former 
comes  from  a  clouded  intellect,  the  latter  from  mere 
wickedness. 

By  "  perversions"  we  mean  cases  in  which  sensual  pleas- 
ure is  derived  from  acts  disgusting  and  repellent,  or  per- 
haps simply  incomprehensible,  to  normal  persons.  The 
victims  of  these  terrible  anomalies  of  sexual  taste,  belong- 
ing mostly'  to  highly  civilized  races,  have  either  lost  all 
ideas  of  morality  and  propriety,  or  they  have  been  con- 
genitally  lacking  in  ethical  and  aesthetic  perceptions. 

It  is  most  important  to  understand  that  sexual  perverts 
are  chiefl}-  the  heirs  upon  whom  the  predisposing  taint  has 
been  cast  by  sexually  overstimulated  ancestors.  Herein 
lies  one  of  the  greatest  dangers  in  all  sexual  improprie- 
ties. 

The  most  noteworthy  perversions  are : 

Fetichism,  in  which  sexual  interest  is  confined  to  parts  of 
the  bod}^ — as  the  foot,  hand  or  hair ;  or  to  accidental  acces- 
sories, such  as  articles  of  clothing ;  or  to  special  materials — 
as  fur,  velvet,  etc. 

Sadism,  in  which  lust  is  combined  with — or  even  satiated 
by — acts  of  cruelty,  ranging  from  actual  murder  to  trivial 
infliction  of  pain.  The  term  is  derived  from  the  infamous 
Marquis  de  Sade, '  in  whose  obscene  novels  lust  and  cruelty 
played  an  important  part. 

3Iasochism —ivom.  Sacher-Masoch,  whose  novels  were 
founded  on  this  perversion.  The  opposite  of  sadism.  An 
abnormal  desire  for  humiliation  and  abuse  by  women. 

Sexual  excitement  from  whippings  seems  very  common, 

'  This  wretch,  personally  converting  his  fictions  into  fact,  was 
committed  to  the  Bastille,  and  finally  died  in  the  lunatic  asylum  of 
Charenton  {Vide  Barras,  "Memoires, "  tom.  i.,  pp.  66,  57;  Hachette 
etCie.,  Paris,  1896).— Ed. 


I 


THE   PERVERSIONS   OF   THE   SEXUAL   LIFE.  435 

and  sucli  tendencies  sliould  be  watched  for  by  those  whose 
duties  relate  to  children. 

E-ousseau,  having  been  first  sensually  excited  at  the  early 
age  of  eight  years  by  a  whipping  at  the  hands  of  Mile. 
Lambercier,  became  a  masochist.  "Who  would  believe 
that  this  child-punishment,  received  at  eight  years  old 
from  the  hand  of  a  woman  of  thirty,  determined  my  future 
taste,  my  desires,  my  passions,  my  whole  being  for  the  re- 
mainder of  my  life,  and  that  in  a  manner  quite  the  opposite 
of  what  might  naturally  be  expected?  ...  To  fall  at  the 
feet  of  an  imperious  mistress,  to  obey  her  mandates,  to  be 
obliged  to  imjjlore  her  pardon,  were  to  me  most  exquisite 
enjoyments."  ' 

Necrophilism,'^  Homo- Sexuality,^  or  Contrary  Sexual  In- 
stinct.— This  grave  and  deplorable  perversion,  little  recog- 
nized but  all  too  common,  has  f)revailed  in  all  ages  and 
in  all  nations.  It  is  constantly  referred  to  in  Greek 
literature,  and  Herodotus  speaks  of  the  Scythians  as  hav- 
ing learned  pederasty  in  Asia,  and  becoming  transformed 
into  the  feminine  type.  He  says  that  "  the  goddess  Venus 
Urania  let  OrjAsia-y  >ouit(i>  fall  upon  them — i.e.,  the  passion 
or  disease  which  transformed  them  into  women.  ^  The 
Orjhia  ■jou(T(»}  of  Herodotus  practically  means  what  we  call 
"contrary  sexual  feeling."'' 

"  There  is  one  element  in  the  study  of  sexual  perversion 
that  deserves  especial  attention.  .  .  .  The  offspring  of  the 
abnormall}-  carnal  individual  is  likely  to  be  possessed  of 
the  same  inordinate  sexual  appetite  that  characterizes  the 
parent.     The  child  of  vice  has  within  it,  in  msmy  instances, 

'  Rousseau's  "Confessions,"  Book  I. 

2  NE/ipof  (Nekros)  =  corpse.     <Pi?.nc  (Philos)  —  lover. 

^'Ofidg  (hovios)  =  same,  a  prefix  signifying  sameness  ;  posite 

of  ETepoQ  (heteros)  =  another,  a  prefix  denoting  difference. 

^Vide  Schrenck-Notzing,  loc.  cit.,  p.  186. 

'See  also  St.  Paul,  Romans  i.,  24,  26,  27.  The  classical  reader 
may  also  look  at  Lucian,  Dialog.  Meretr.  V.,  Amores,  Convivium. 
—Ed. 


436  HEREDITY   AND   MORALS. 

the  germ  of  vicious  impulse,  and  no  purifying  influence  can 
save  it.  .  .  .  Men  and  women  wlio  seek,  from  mere  satiety, 
variations  of  the  normal  method  .  .  .  stamp  their  nervous 
systems  with  a  malign  influence  which  in  the  next  genera- 
tion may  present  itself  as  true  sexual  perversion.  Acquired 
sexual  j)erversion  in  one  generation  may  be  a  true  constitu- 
tional and  irradicable  vice  in  the  next,  and  this  indepen- 
dently of  gross  physical  aberrations."  ' 

The  law  often  passes  sentence  on  those  who  are  not  mor- 
ally responsible;  failing  to  distinguish  between  intellec- 
tually clouded  " perverts"  and  those  who  are  "perverse." 
Persons  of  sound  mind  occasionally  commit  the  most 
monstrously  perverse  acts,  but  in  every  such  case  there  is 
a  presumption  of  psychical  disturbance,  and  care  should 
be  exercised  in  the  choice  of  the  prison  or  the  asylum. 

The  writer  is  told  by  medical  friends  who  are  in  a  better 
position  than  he  to  know,  that  our  country  is  becoming 
alarmingly  corrupted  by  these  shocking  practices,  which 
work  out  their  worst  effects  upon  posterity. 

Note. — For  want  of  space  and  for  other  reasons,  this  chapter  has 
been  greatly  abridged  from  the  original  manuscript. 

Those  whose  callings  necessitate  acquaintance  with  the  loatli- 
some  details  may  profitably  consult  the  invaluable  work  of  von 
Krafft-Ebing,  which  contains  not  a  word  to  excite  a  lascivious 
thought  in  any  reasonably  decently'  constituted  man.  But  "  where 
the  bee  sucks  honey  the  spider  sucks  poison"  ;  and  save  for  the 
knowledge  that  irregularities  of  the  parent  may  entail  upon  the 
children  the  inheritance  of  a  brain-structure  directly — perhaps  irre- 
sistibly— predisposing  to  unspeakable  depravities,  the  less  the  gen- 
eral reader  meddles  with  this  kind  of  literature  the  better.— Ed. 

>"  Addresses  and  Essays,"  G.  Frank  Lydston,  M.D.,  p.  248. 


FINIS. 


-f 


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